Twitter set to launch music service
Speculation is growing that Twitter is preparing to launch a music service for users after confirmation it has acquired music app We Are Hunted for an undisclosed fee.
A post on We Are Hunted’s website on Thursday (11 April) reveals the business “will continue to create services that will delight you, as part of the Twitter team” but adds it can not reveal any further details on upcoming projects. An iOS app, dubbed Twitter Music, could reportedly launch as early as this weekend.
The announcements came after American Idol host Ryan Seacrest tweeted about “playing with @twitter’s new music app (yes it’s real!)”. According to Seacrest the app shows what artists are trending as well as highlights up and coming acts based on users’ preferences. The post was retweeted by @Twitter Music, which is thought to be the official account of the service.
Additionally, it is understood the upcoming service pulls recommendations based on Twitter followers, emerging artists and from tracks tagged with the #NowPlaying hashtag.
We Are Hunted launched in 2009 and tracked the most popular songs across the internet and social media sites. It also generated dynamic playlists that could be streamed by users. The service is being shut down and accounts of current users will be deleted but songs can be retrieved by contacting the service.
The announcement follows reports last month that Twitter plans to launch its own music service this year. The micro-blogging site has aggressively expanded its multimedia offering to support pictures, videos and interactive content over the last 12 months in a bid to boost advertising revenues. In January, Twitter launched Vine, a video sharing service for short clips, after acquiring the business last year.
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