We've already witnessed some big changes in social media this year and I'm sure there'll be more to come. Industry leaders are struggling to balance their independence while at the same time trying to branch out and attract diversified segments.
We've all heard about Facebook's Graph Search, Twitter's Vine and Google's creeping strategy. However, things are about to get really interesting with the introduction of Twitter Music. Not only does this pave the way for diversification but it completely targets musicians and artists. I found this very interesting because I find a lot of artists and musicians are not very fond of Tweeting. Perhaps with the chance getting their indie song trending on the web there will be more incentive.
When Myspace left the picture it was only a matter of time before an industry leader stood up to plate and offered musicians some leverage. I'm actually kind of surprised Facebook and especially Google didn't notice this gap in the market; because while Facebook replaced Myspace they never offered music pages or much support for showcasing music, besides events and group pages. However, Facebook has made music an important feature in their recent news feed update, and Google is in the works of building a subscription music service as well.
A little late is better than never.
The app is a standalone app meaning that you don't need to sign in with Twitter to access the platform, however there is subtle branding on the player. It will also take information that you share via Twitter to suggest similar artists and bands you may like. The player was built by "We are Hunted" and was acquired by Twitter sometime in the last 6 months says CNET. It will be released on iOS sometime this month and the music will be streamed via Soundcloud.
The question: Will people find the application useful enough to replace their favourite music discovery websites like Jango, or Pandora? I don't think it'll replace Jango Radio for me but it'll definitely come in handy when finding new independent artists and sharing emerging talent.
The truth: I'm looking forward to it.
image: twitter music/shutterstock