Based on reports, Twitter is looking to acquire the audio sharing platform SoundCloud with the hopes of heading into the music sharing business. It comes as a number of companies are reportedly looking to boost their music sharing capabilities and the Twitter takeover of SoundCloud could put the company into the lead for music online.
SoundCloud is, in a nutshell, a streaming platform akin to YouTube, but for audio. It is a company that has been pushing itself forward as a place for independent artists and others to gain a following without using the traditional label.
The company has over 250 million users, which puts itself in prime position for a larger company to swoop in and purchase it.
The acquisition may not appear to be the ideal one for Twitter, but with the company launching new ad services on the micro-blogging site, SoundCloud's streaming service could also be used to deploy similar audio advertisements.
SoundCloud is valued at around $700 million, which would make it a massive undertaking for Twitter if it were to go into music yet again. The company had previously launched Twitter Music, but it did not gain enough traction and was scrapped.
For SoundCloud, which had wanted to attract large music companies for a potential takeover, this merger with Twitter could help it reach its goals with the backing and oversight of an already established online social media company.
Overall, the move is being seen by industry experts as being an "easy way for SoundCloud to start selling ads against its content."
With Twitter's new media and advertising push, this seems like a no-brainer win-win situation where both sides will be able to enhance each other's work and make music sharing more accessible and integrated through multiple sharing platforms.
The files on SoundCloud can already be embedded into other websites, which through Twitter could make a song that is catchy and unique go viral through numerous platforms that SoundCloud believes will help increase and continue to see a number innovations in how the two companies perform under one umbrella.
It also follows a lengthy discussion between Twitter and SoundCloud, as Twitter had wanted the company to partner on the failed Twitter Music. Now, the two sides can go at it together.
