Twitter Launches Music Service, Invite-Only For Now

News that micro-blogging service Twitter has launched its very own music app is no doubt going to get a lot of people excited, but the latest update on the program indicates that unless you are of a Wiz Khalifa or Ryan Seacrest level of fame, you’re gonna have to wait.

Music.twitter.com is currently live but in an attempt to raise awareness, Twitter has only given access to certain ‘influencers’ on the proviso that they tweet about the new music streaming goodness. A matter of hours after the page was launched, it was edited with an ‘invite-only’ notice, not unlike that used by the new MySpace.

The company seem totally cool with dangling the carrot in front of us for now though, letting the world know all the details the app will provide while it remains just out of reach. As reported by Billboard, Twitter confirmed their acquisition of Aussie-made, USA-based music start-up We Are Hunted, which will facilitate the back-end. What’s more, the service will also work in harmony with Spotify, Rdio, iTunes, Soundcloud, VEVO and YouTube, indicating that it won’t just be a music-streaming vibe, but videos too.

Billboard also discuss the two key ingredients to a successful music service, being a strong community and a reliable sense of curation. While the first is already provided by Twitter itself, the latter, which other than the list of trending topics, is somewhat lacking. This is where We Are Hunted comes in. By combining results from music being played across all social media, torrent services and in the blogosphere, We Are Hunted is able to construct a reliable array of music charts.

For the time being, we will have to enjoy the service vicariously through famous people, much like many other things in life. But judging by a post on the now defunct We Are Hunted website it will be worth the wait:

“There’s no question that Twitter and music go well together. Artists turn to Twitter first to connect with fans, and people share and discover new songs and albums every day.”

Dammit, Twitter, let us plebs have our turn already!

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