Twitter Launches #Music
Twitter released a music app on Thursday called #Music.
The app uses information from tweets to determine trends in music. Users can tweet songs from iTunes, Spotify and Rdio. It also allows users to connect with artists to see what music they tweet about and which musicians they follow.
The app is only available for iOS iPhone and iPad products, but Twitter says it will eventually become available for Android. The web version was released Thursday as well.
A USC clinical entrepenuership professor says people will probably try the app but won't necessarily abandon old music apps for it.
"People today will use the app that is the best and gives them what they need," Professor Kathleen Allen said.
"Whether it's from Twitter or some unknown developer, they're going to go with the one that works."
Twitter has tried to expand before with a move into music. Three months ago it launched a video version of its original app, called Vine. Vine users send out short, six-second clips that repeated in a loop.
The company's ad revenues have doubled in the past year, and it expects this foray into music will only increase its profits. There is speculation that the company is expanding to prepare to go public, but CEO Dick Costolo says Twitter is not under pressure to do so because it has ample funding from private investors.
Allen says the move isn't much of a risk for the company, and she doesn't doubt it will give Twitter plenty of publicity. "I don't think they're going to have trouble getting attention," Allen said.
"But the question is are people going to stick with it or are they going to go back to the apps they've been using all along."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
