Earlier this year, Twitter announced that it had finally made the leap into music discovery with its #Music app.
Now six months later, the app might be nearing its final tune.
Tech site AllThingsD reports that Twitter is “strongly considering” shuttering the app, while, according to sources within the company, “the app’s fate is nearly sealed.”
Twitter #Music launched with a fury in April, quickly becoming iTunes’ sixth most downloaded free app, beating out Spotify, upon its release.
But in the months that followed, those promising numbers seemed to spiral, and AllThingsD said that both downloads and user engagement numbers reached “abysmal” levels.
App analytics company Onavo placed the app in 1,672nd place in its own rankings in an August chart, and AppAnnie ranked Twitter #Music at No. 264 in the iTunes Music app vertical as of Saturday.
When Twitter rolled out #Music, it was a way for its more than 500 million users to quickly explore the tracks that people were buzzing about — in 140 characters or less.
Separate from its primary social network, Twitter #Music helps users find music based on the musicians they follow, recommends bands that users might be interested in, shows what tracks the people you follow are tweeting about and allows you to browse through the songs currently trending.
The app also offers users a streamlined view of music from the artists they follow and curates up-and-coming acts based off Twitter chatter; it plugs in especially well to Spotify (where tracks spin in full for premium subscribers).
Users can also search other Twitter profiles and see the music that person follows, which is a great way to discover what acts your favorite artist is keeping tabs on.
A fantastic idea, but a major misstep of the app — and possibly what has turned folks off — is that users can’t play additional songs from any one artist through the site. It also didn’t help that Apple rolled out iTunes Radio, adding even more fierce competition to music streaming platforms.
Twitter’s desire to put its own stamp on the music industry, and boost it in the process, won’t go down with the app’s failure, though. The company has hired a former executive from Topspin to reinvigorate its music department.
Los Angeles Times
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