Live.me Enables Offline Monetization For Its Vine-Like ‘Shorts’ Feature

Live.me has enabled monetization on its newly-launched Shorts feature, which lets streamers share pre-recorded, Vine-like clips between seven and 17 seconds long — that can then be edited with music, filters, digital backdrops, stickers, text, and voice modifiers.

The update means that Live.me creators, who can collect virtual gifts worth actual money during live broadcasts, can now make money while they’re offline when fans send gifts to their Shorts. The streaming platform launched Shorts in June.

Live.me’s monetization system enables viewers to convert money into a virtual currency called ‘Coins’ (69 Coins cost roughly $1) that they can use to buy ‘Gifts’ for their favorite streamers. Each Gift is worth a certain number of ‘Diamonds’, which creators can cash out for actual money. Forty thousand diamonds are roughly equivalent to $200.

“Live.me quickly became a leader in the live broadcasting space after launching in April 2016 and our virtual gifting model has provided lots of broadcasters the means to build and pursue their passions,” said CEO Yuki He. Adds Khudor Annous, head of marketing and partnerships: “We want to fuel the creativity and embrace the community by helping them monetize in ways that other platforms like Vine never had.”

Live.me was the highest grossing livestreaming app in the U.S. last year, the company says, having processed $3.5 million in payments as of March 2017. The app has been downloaded by more than 25 million users, and serves 300,000 hours of live video every day.