From the bustling realm of social audio, which is undergoing feverish development on several fronts, comes news of tentative expansion from Twitter and the marquee leader in the space, Clubhouse. Twitter widens the testing field and Clubhouse inches into Android. Continue Reading
Talk about diversifying. In the most startling rumor of a streaming music acquisition, merchant payment enabler Square is reportedly considering an acquisition of HiRez, musician-owned Tidal. This Rumor Fact(ory) is based on the usual “unnamed sources” who spoke with Bloomberg. Click through for more context on Dorsey and Tidal. Continue Reading
Twitter’s video livestreaming app Periscope has launched an audio-only option. The service is a mobile app that allows anyone to record and broadcast live video and interact with viewers through a chat system. Now it also includes the option to exclude the video component from broadcasts on the iOS versions of both Periscope and Twitter. Continue Reading
Twitter has written off the investment it made into SoundCloud. The social media company put about $70 million into the audio platform in 2016 through its Twitter Ventures unit. Twitter explained in its 2017 annual report that the money invested is “not expected to be recoverable within a reasonable period of time.” Continue Reading
Deezer has entered a partnership with Twitter, meaning the streaming platform’s tracks can now be played in tweets. The deal capitalizes on Twitter’s Audio Cards, a product for audio embeds on the social network. Continue Reading
Twitter has confirmed that it has made a capital investment in SoundCloud. Re/code is reporting anonymous sources who say the investment is worth about $70-million. So continues the long, unsteady relationship of micro-blogging service Twitter with music. Continue Reading
Twitter has added Spotify support to its audio cards. Any of the streaming service’s 30 million tracks can be turned into the audio post on Twitter. The cards will only play 30-second previews and will link to the full song in Spotify. Continue Reading
SoundCloud has tightened its integration with Twitter. The online platform’s audio cards can now be embedded into tweets that appear in Twitter Moments. Continue Reading
More pre-CES news includes an intriguing tie-up between social media and music hardware. Twitter announced an investment in Muzik, a startup company making connected headphones. Could this be the social network’s first music deal that really sticks? Continue Reading
Music and social have tried to marry, but never gotten past the dating stage. Twitter tried and failed. Instagram has started a new attempt. The attempt is to organize its 300-million users around music as a passion point for shareable photos and videos. Continue Reading
Spotify rolled out a new feature this weekend called Tweet the Beat. It’s a pop-up screen prompting listeners to tweet at an artist about one of their tunes. For now, the feature is only about Rihanna and one of her newest singles, but it’s likely that Spotify is working to bring other performers on board. Continue Reading
Rdio announced several new features to its online listening platform at SXSW. Many of them are centered around interpersonal activity. First, the iOS version has revamped its sharing interface. Second, after someone has shared a song, the recipient can reply to the sender and have a conversation. The final new conversation feature better loops in social media for interacting with artists. Continue Reading