Twitter is reportedly planning to release a standalone music app on iOS, possibly later this month, according to a new report from CNET. CNET has learned that Twitter acquired music discovery service We Are Hunted, and is using its tech to build the app, similar to the approach it took with Vine earlier this year. The difference here would be that Twitter’s music app would carry its own branding, according to CNET’s sources.
The app will be called Twitter Music, and will suggest artists and songs based on information gathered about the user, thanks to personalization derived from what accounts people follow on Twitter. The music itself will be stored on and delivered to a user via SoundCloud integration, and it clearly sounds like a music discovery play a la Discovr, or indeed, We Are Hunted’s own approach pre-acquisition.
As CNET points out, it’s a nice fit since Twitter has been hugely successful in attracting music industry stars, who themselves draw hundreds of thousands to millions of followers. The app works both with and without signing in with your Twitter credentials, too, so it really is a standalone product. According to CNET, it contains a “Suggested” tab for recommending songs and artists, based on artists they already follow, as well as a #NowPlaying hashtag and section that offers up direct access to tracks being shared directly by those you follow on Twitter. There are also “Popular” and “Emerging” tabs that offer general suggestions culled from the overall user community instead of just an individual’s account and follows.
Here’s what using the #NowPlaying feature looks like in the wild, thanks to a tweet by We Are Hunted co-founder Stephen Phillips from February
Initially, Twitter Music will draw content artists put up themselves for streaming on SoundCloud, or else redirect users to iTunes where they can hear the track previews Apple includes in that service. It doesn’t integrate with any full streaming companies like Spotify, CNET says, which is likely actually a selling point for Apple, who will no doubt be a vocal launch partner whenever this does make its way to public release.
We’ve reached out to Twitter for additional comment, and will update with any response we receive.