By Patrick Avenell
Twitter this morning launched its foray into online music streaming — appropriately called ‘#music’ — choosing to partner with leading players Rdio and Spotify instead of competing with the madding crowd in this congested marketplace.
In addition to Rdio and Spotify, full service streaming is also offered by, Sony Unlimited, Samsung Music Hub, Mog (Telstra) and JB NOW (JB Hi-Fi); while Pandora provides online radio that can tailored to a user’s taste.
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Unlike the dedicated players, Twitter #music isn’t so much about searching for song and albums for playback but rather listening to tracks that are being offered by Twitter in several charts. There’s Popular, for new and trending music; Emerging, for hidden or undiscovered talent; Suggested, which is supposedly based on artists you follow on Twitter; and #NowPlaying, which is a collection of tracks tagged in Tweets.
In a charming piece of self-awareness, the Twitter charts go down to number 140.
Subscribers to Rdio and Spotify can listen to full tracks, either through their web browser or a mobile app, while everyone else only can listen to a 30 second grab. Twitter said on its Blog this morning that it “will continue to explore and add other music service providers”.
Everyone has access to a personalised playlist based on the artists they follow on Twitter.
To encourage both music listening and following more celebrities, Twitter suggest artists one does not currently follow. Grouplove's Never Trust A Love Song was my favourite album of that year it was released.
Popularity has never been an indicator of quality, best emphasised by Psy currently sitting atop Twitter's chart.
Discovering new music is a mantra preached by all music streaming services. Not sure whether many Australians would consider The Cat Empire to be emerging, but that's some good exposure for the band in other regions. No Longer There was my seventh favourite song of the 2000s.
Opinion/Analysis
Being launch partners for Twitter #music is a huge advantage for Rdio and Spotify. In a congested market with little price flexibility, offering more services is the only way to increase value.
For Telstra, it has unmetered data for mobile Mog listening, but that is only for Telstra customers. JB NOW, Sony and Samsung don't really offer any comprehensive value add that to make their service more attractive.
Twitter is a hugely popular social network and it is particularly great for music fans, who can follow their favourite artists to find out what they ate for breakfast, which football they follow and when their next gig is – and that's just One Direction. Twitter fans will no doubt be trialling #music over the weekend and will soon grow tired of 30 second grabs.
Rdio is offering a 14-day unlimited trial on its mobile app at the moment – I have been a fully fledged, card holding Rdio addict since early 2012, so it definitely worth taking up the two week trial to see if it meets your needs.
"With the Twitter Music app for the web and iOS, you'll be able to see what tunes are trending, discover emerging talent, get recommendations based on your taste, and follow what people are listening to," said a Rdio spokesperson. "Everyone gets to hear a 30-second preview but when you connect with Rdio, you can play the full track. If users don't have an Rdio account, they can sign up for free and try the Rdio Unlimited mobile app for 14 days without pulling out the plastic."
Spotify offers a free tier level that is ongoing – this is for desktop only and is ad supported – so fans can check out the Twitter #music experience while at their PC; as well as a free trial for its premium features.
"We're really excited to be a part of Twitter music," said a Spotify Australia spokesperson. "As always, any new users to Spotify will be able to sign up to Spotify premium and enjoy a 30-day free trial. Existing premium subscribers simply need to click to play Spotify through Twitter #music."