Twitter #music Finally Goes Live

Twitter announced its highly anticipated Twitter #music service which is currently available as an iOS app and Web version and limited to the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. An Android version of the app and more countries will be added over time.

The music is supplied by Rdio, Spotify and iTunes. A nice feature for users with Rdio or Spotify accounts is the ability to sign in those respective apps via Twitter #music and stream the full tracks. Users with only an iTunes account can still preview the songs as they are discovered.

The app itself has a few nice features which should make discovering music easier for Twitter users. "Suggested" uses Twitter follower data to recommend songs and artists you may like. One problem with the Suggested section is that it will display zero information if you don't actively follow musical artists on Twitter. "#NowPlaying" displays music which is tweeted by people you follow. "Emerging" highlights up-and-coming artists which may be on Twitter users radar. "Popular" shows what is trending on the service.

Twitter #music's limited integration with other services and basic functionality make it a tough sell for all but the most avid twitter users. For example, you can't add a track you discovered in Twitter #music to Rdio or Spotify let alone organize playlists. You also can't use the app for primary music listening which limits long term use. Music discovery only goes so far and casual Twitter users may only log in periodically to see what others are listening to before they switch to Rdio or Spotify and to listen to their newly discovered music.

Twitter has millions of users and the #music service is a welcome addition. For Twitter fans who follow artists or have a lot of followers this may make a nice supplement to the discoverability offered by other music services. For the general public though it will have to add substantially more features to become a viable alternatives in the highly competitive music app space.