Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is way behind Facebook when it comes to number of users, but the former is making great efforts to narrow the gap and encourage people to spend more time on the platform. Hence, it has come up with a new feature called ‘Audio Card’ that allows users to listen their favorite music from their timeline.
Listen to music while tweeting
The firm hopes that this feature will encourage artists to debut new songs on the platform. This feature introduced for the first time on Twitter will make it possible for users to play podcasts, music and other audio clips.
‘With a single tap, the Twitter Audio Card lets you discover and listen to audio directly in your timeline on both iOS and Android devices,’ the firm said, and added that a user can “dock” the Audio Card while listening to their favorite tunes and continue browsing inside the Twitter app.
Musicians will get an opportunity to post exclusive clips and find a large number of listeners instantly. However, the micro-blogging site didn’t explain how the new feature will evolve.
Twitter partners with SoundCloud
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) partnered up with Berlin-based audio-streaming service SoundCloud to develop the new feature. Sound Cloud has a number of partners, including NASA, the Washington Post, CNN, David Guetta, Coldplay and Warner Music. Twitter promises audio from all of these partners for now. Rumors were circulating a few months ago that Twitter had been discussing the prospects of acquiring SoundCloud, which is famous for being the YouTube of music.
In a blog post on Thursday, Twitter wrote that SoundCloud is working hard to get more content partners. Audio Card is in testing phase for now, and in the future it will be available to a larger number of partners and creators. The eventual full-scale launch will make it possible for music artists and creators to share exclusive audio with the millions of Twitter users.
The move by Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) follows related initiatives by rivals including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google, who have already thrown their hats into music streaming sector. Music streaming is the fastest-growing segment in the music industry and is dominated by Apple’s iTunes.
