Starting today, Twitter’s anticipated music-discovery app Twitter #Music will be available online and for the iPhone through Apple’s App Store.
The service, which is based on technology made by Australian company We Are Hunted, which Twitter bought last year, shows users what new music is trending across Twitter.
It helps users find music based on the bands they follow and what their friends follow and recommend.
There will be five key tabs: a ‘Popular’ tab will show songs that are trending and an ‘Emerging’ tab will show up-and-coming artists. A ‘Suggested’ tab shows artists users may like based on the artists they follow and a #NowPlaying hashtag will bring in links to songs tweeted by people you follow.
The fifth tab called ‘Me’ highlights the music you follow.
Writing in the Twitter blog today, the company said the service derives its music from three sources: iTunes, Spotify and Rdio.
“It uses Twitter activity, including Tweets and engagement, to detect and surface the most popular tracks and emerging artists. It also brings artists’ music-related Twitter activity front and centre: go to their profiles to see which music artists they follow and listen to songs by those artists. And, of course, you can tweet songs right from the app.
“The songs on Twitter #Music currently come from three sources: iTunes, Spotify or Rdio. By default, you will hear previews from iTunes when exploring music in the app. Subscribers to Rdio and Spotify can log into their accounts to enjoy full tracks that are available in those respective catalogues. We will continue to explore and add other music service providers.”
The service is beginning to roll out around the world. The iPhone app should be in the App Store by later today. There has been no word yet on an Android app, but considering the amount of Android smartphones in use, that should be just around the corner.
“Right now, the service is available in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Over time, we will bring the service to Android, as well as to more countries,” Twitter said.
