Last Thursday, Twitter launched their new #music service. Released as an iOS and web app, this service is a new way of searching for music online. This is a great step forward when it comes to the marriage between music and social interaction, which helps everyone: musicians, promoters, and listeners.
You can use Twitter #music to listen to music in several ways. The #NowPlaying section lists songs mentioned by musicians as well as people you follow. You can play a song directly from the app (either as an iTunes preview or via your connected Spotify or Rdio account) or discover new music via your own social connections. More importantly, you can also discover new music by navigating to the respective areas for popular, emerging and suggested artists. This is where the unique marriage of music and social fit perfectly within Twitter's own platform.
The close link between music and social is an advantage for all layers of the music industry. Paul Smernicki, director of digital at Universal Music, is a fan. He says, "Twitter #music really captures, in a well executed way, what we all know about music – that it's incredibly social. When people hear music they love, they want to share it. Music also says a lot about the listener – it represents them in lots of ways – the music you listen to is almost like your tone of voice.
"16m tracks and a search box is not what everyone wants. Great curation is a massive value add. Twitter #music adds great value to subscribers of Spotify and Rdio. The better the overall experience, the more people will convert to these services and that makes for an increasingly healthy music ecosystem. I hope that integrating more services across more territories is high up on their roadmap agenda."
Listening to music is only part of the experience of music itself. The social aspect of music, especially through a platform such as Twitter, also has implications for radio. Laura Tannenbaum, brand marketing manager at Absolute Radio, says: "Historically, radio has been the primary way for most music fans to discover new music, and a factor that has always worked in radio's favour is the human aspect. Playlists are selected by a discerning group of experts and is curated by professionals who understand the audience's shared musical tastes. This is not a space in which Twitter Music, Spotify, Rdio or iTunes operate within.
"Twitter #music has the potential to add a new dimension to radio stations' playlists and will give us and our social media teams another place to look for what's resonating in the public psyche. What makes it a very interesting prospect is that it offers up an additional metric when looking at the 'popularity' of music. It could mean new chart shows – dictated by the number of plays on Twitter #music versus how many singles were sold, and could be used alongside more traditional music surveys."
Alex Moss, co-founder and technical director at 3 Door Digital
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