Because apparently there aren’t enough music apps in existence, Twitter announced today on ABC gigglefest Good Morning America that it will be making its highly anticipated foray into the crowded music market. Along with a website, Twitter #Music (hashtag!) is a new, separate app for your iPhone that’s slated to be released later this afternoon.
Twitter explained on GMA that its new app “helps you find music that’s popular on Twitter and music based on the bands you follow.” The music discovery service is centered around four tabs: Popular, Emerging, Suggested, and #NowPlaying.
The first two tabs focus on the Twitter community as a whole and highlight what everyone in the world is listening to, while the latter two provide a personalized experience: Suggested helps you search for new music depending on your friends’ tastes and #NowPlaying shows you what your friends are listening to. It also takes public humiliation to a whole new level: “For instance, if your friend tweets that they are listening to a song by Justin Bieber, that song will show up on that page.” Sounds great!
It’s important to note that Twitter isn’t storing any of this music, but aggregating it from three sources: iTunes, Spotify, and Rdio. Preview clips will be played using iTunes, but Rdio and Spotify subscribers will be able to log-in to their accounts to stream full tracks. Twitter’s blog writes that it’s looking to add other music providers. Also, there’s no Android version just yet.
Twitter explained that its service and music “go great together” since so many people use it to share and discover today’s hottest hits:
Many of the most-followed accounts on Twitter are musicians, and half of all users follow at least one musician. This is why artists turn to Twitter first to connect with their fans — and why we wanted to find a way to surface songs people are tweeting about.
Musicians, trendsetters and important E! hosts like Ryan Seacrest are already raving about it so it’s obviously the perfect tool if you love listening to music from Z100.
playing with @twitter's new music app (yes it's real!)…there's a serious dance party happening at idol right now
— Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) April 11, 2013
