Twitter users can now instantly listen to music and other audio by simply clicking on tweets. The company, which has partnered with SoundCloud and the iTunes store of Apple, introduces the new Twitter Audio Card feature that will deliver live audio streaming directly from the Twitter app.
The Audio Card is compatible with all Android and iOS devices. It allows users to explore Twitter as they listen to streaming music. The cards can display album art at full screen. Users can minimize it so they can continue reading Twitter as they listen.
The newly launched Audio Card were offered to around 60 Twitter users. These include Coldplay, NASA (@nasa), This American Life (@thisamerlife), Zeds Dead (@whoszed), Steve Aoki (@steveaoki), David Guetta (@davidguetta) and The White House (@whitehouse). Future members will be listed by @TwitterMusic.
The launch was spearheaded by the Foo Fighters band who told their fans on the official release of their latest single in a tweet. The song is now available in iTunes and fans can start listening by clicking on a link found in the message.
"We're just beginning to test the Audio Card and plan to make it available to more partners and creators in the future so that many more musical artists and creators will be able to share exclusive, in-the-moment audio to millions of listeners on Twitter," says Twitter in a blog post.
At the moment, song offerings from iTunes are limited while SoundCloud offers a wider variety to music buffs. In recent years, SoundCloud has become one of the most popular sharing service for music. However, it poses the risk of infringing copyrights when users upload their music on the service.
Dubbed as the 'You Tube for audio,' SoundCloud was launched in October 2008 by Swedish artist Eric Wahlforss and Swedish sound designer Alexander Ljung. The social sharing platform allows users endless access to a large list of music and audio makers.
Twitter is reportedly conducting talks on acquiring the audio-sharing site SoundCloud since June.
"Many more musical artists and creators will be able to share exclusive, in-the-moment audio to millions of listeners on Twitter," adds the company.
Some have wondered on just how often people will use the card. Most of the Twitter sessions on mobile devices last even shorter than a single play of music. Still, the Twitter Audio Card can be the next best thing for artists who are keen on using the feature to promote their work.
