VSCO, the photo-sharing app that became a Gen Z meme, is expanding further into video. The company already supported video editing via its app, but users couldn’t publish and share directly to the VSCO feed the results of their long-form video content. That now changes, starting first with VSCO members on iOS.
Video publishing has been a longtime request among the app’s users, the company says, and arrives at a time when video editing has been booming on VSCO’s platform.
Over the past year, VSCO has seen video editing double. In addition, usage of its GIF-creation tool, DSCO, has remained one of its most popular features, the company claims. In December, VSCO signaled its intention to move further into the video market with the acquisition of video technology company Rylo.
While Rylo was well-known for making compact cameras, it had been more recently focused on a set of mobile video editing tools. VSCO said it planned to roll out these tools to the community in 2020. While VSCO hasn’t said which tools will be included, the Rylo mobile app already offered features like video stabilization technology and the ability to create a perfectly framed clip from any section of a 360-degree shot, among other things. The overall idea was that you could shoot first and in a more carefree fashion, then compose your scene after the fact.
Today, VSCO’s video editing tools are more focused on photo-like edits, including the use of presets and adjustments to things like exposure or contrast. With the launch of video publication, VSCO promises more advanced video capabilities are soon on the way, thanks to Rylo.
First launched in 2011, VSCO has been more recently thrust into the mainstream thanks to the VSCO girl meme — a parody of a certain type of Gen Z girl sporting a messy bun, Hydro Flask, metal straw and puka shell necklace — and Instagram photos first tweaked by carefully applied VSCO filters.
However, VSCO the company didn’t need a meme to boost its business. The app now sees more than 20 million active users per week, with over 2 million paying customers.
In addition, VSCO said in December it was on pace to surpass 4 million paying users sometime in 2020 and was approaching $80 million in annual revenue, thanks to the app’s $19.99 annual subscription.
To grow its brand, VSCO partnered with Snap on its first Snapchat lens in November, which worked on photos and video. Presumably, the company now wants to capture the interest of the TikTok generation by becoming the first stop for edits ahead of publication to short-form video destinations.
To use the new video publishing features, VSCO members on iOS can tap the plus icon in the top right of the app, then switch over to the video tab. Users can then edit the video and post, as before with photos. VSCO says Android support will arrive in the weeks ahead, along with support for favoriting and republishing videos.
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