Remember a few months back when Twitter launched its #Music app? If you’re a regular tech junkie, you were probably keen to see what it would be like. By the looks of things though, no one got much further than that initial interest.
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According to Forbes, that lack of interest means that the social network is going to kill the app in the run up to its IPO.
When #Music was launched in April, there was a big initial spike in interest and usage, but that quickly fell off meaning that the early adopters couldn’t create enough buzz to bring in general users and build momentum.
The app was designed to use your Twitter activity to “detect and surface the most popular tracks and emerging artists” you may find interesting. It was designed by the team behind We Are Hunted, the music startup Twitter acquired last year.
Forbes suggests that the reasons for the app’s failure could include its launch date. Rather than trying to use the service to boost its IPO, it says, Twitter should have used the momentum from its upcoming IPO to boost publicity for the music service.
More relevant to its lack of success however is probably the fact that #Music didn’t really differentiate itself from all the other music products out there. Moreover, it didn’t use the trending information it has at its finger tips to its full advantage.
Instead, it shared that information with the likes of Spotify, Rdio and iTunes. When searching for music in the app, for instance users were able to hear short previews from iTunes by default, with Spotify and Rdio users able to link their accounts to listen to entire tracks.
At this stage, it looks like Twitter will try to revamp its music offering, although it’s probably worth bearing in mind that as it increases its clout as a media network it may very well not need a music offering at all.
