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Will music help make Twitter stickier?

3 min read

Digital Technology

Twitter is a powerful presence in the world of social media. But the network that built its popularity around 140-character tweets is still having trouble figuring out how to make users stick around. Social media users spend considerably more time on Facebook than they do on Twitter. Even other social sites such as Tumblr have a greater stickiness factor than Twitter. Now Twitter is hoping that the addition of its new #Music feature is going to change all that.

Twitter #Music: A new spin on an old song

While there are other free, customizable music services — such as Pandora, Slacker Radio and Spotify — that let you create playlists or “radio stations” based on your tastes, Twitter’s service comes with a social twist that could enhance the experience.

Tell Twitter which singers you want to follow and you can see who they follow. You can also listen to tracks of your own choosing or access the Twitter charts of 140 most popular songs or the list of emerging talent. You can see what other people you are following are listening to in real time. Twitter #Music does a great job of integrating social and music. Its outstanding feature is that it suggests new artists that you might also enjoy listening to.

Twitter is a popular platform for many prominent musicians, so it makes sense that Twitter decided to get more involved in the music industry. MySpace is trying to make a push to get back into the social media world and they are doing so through music, so they may prove to be Twitter’s biggest competition in the social media music-platform space. While the music services that already exist today do a great job of delivering your favorite music with minimal interruption from advertising, Twitter has effectively filled a gap by creating an opportunity for new artists to build buzz around their music that didn’t exist before.

Will the draw of free music be enough?

Twitter’s motivation in adding free music to its site is the hope of learning more about its users and to attract more advertising, as users stay on Twitter longer to listen to the music. With increased network stickiness, advertising opportunities will grow. Twitter joins many other music services offering free music in exchange for listeners occasionally having to hear advertising from sponsors. The difference is that the increased interaction by users will give Twitter the ability to tailor delivery of ads so that they are more effective for advertisers.

It seems that Twitter has found a great new formula for success and a way to use its power to help budding artists while generating additional revenue, increasing its stickiness factor and giving music fans a little more variety in what they are listening to. All around, it feels like a good fit for everyone.

Frank Conley is an Internet specialist with Zing Broadband, which provides the ability for rural homes and companies to stream music and videos.