Thursday, March 14, 2013, 01:12 pm

New Twitter app to bring music streaming for iOS users

By Kevin Bostic

Popular microblogging site Twitter will continue to expand its offerings, bringing a new app to Apple's iOS platform that allows users to play and share songs.


Twitter's streaming option will reportedly rely on music from SoundCloud, a Berlin-based audio-sharing service, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter. SoundCloud allows artists and labels to share music in a format that lets users make comments on the track.

Twitter does not appear to have made any overtures toward the major record labels, as Bloomberg says that label execs only learned of Twitter's plans on Thursday. Whether or not Twitter would need separate licensing agreements with the labels is questionable, since the music would be streaming through SoundCloud.

News of the forthcoming music streaming app broke on Wednesday alongside a report from CNet that the company had also bought music discovery service We Are Hunted some time last year. The service creates a Billboard-like chart for music, keeping viewers up to date on the most popular songs across blogs, social media, message boards, and BitTorrent.

A music streaming and discovery app would likely help Twitter further distinguish itself from competition such as Facebook and its Instagram service. Twitter in January launched Vine, a short video sharing app also targeting Apple's iOS platform.