And after all that hype and bulls*&t, not to mention tens of millions in pre-launch investment, Twitter is about to unplug Twitter #Music. Wall Street Journal reporter Mike Isaac reports that the company is “strongly considering killing off its Twitter #Music mobile application,” thanks to a rude post-launch plunge in popularity and a backdrop of instability.
Which means that just six months after launch, Twitter is basically starting over.
So why just six months? Maybe the better question is why this app was even released for 6 seconds. Immediately after launch, there were massive signs of trouble, including the integration clipped tracks for anyone not subscribed to either Spotify or Rhapsody. Which means, Twitter somehow believed that paying streaming subscribers represented more than an extreme niche, and even worse, thought that piggybacking off of these partners was a sound business choice.
April 18th, 2013: “Twitter #music: It Just Isn’t Freemium Enough to Work…“
May 29th, 2013: “We Asked Twitter #Music: What the F*%k Happened?“
The development comes amidst considerable instability in the ranks. Twitter head of music Tatiana Simone jumped ship in August, while head of business development Kevin Thau, who spearheaded the app, left shortly after launch. Enter We Are Hunted, the expensively-acquired startup that helped to power this Frankenstein. “Twitter #Music, according to people familiar with its development, was never fully integrated with the overall product team as it was being built,” Isaac relayed.
“[Thau’s departure] left the app, a product some have said felt half-baked, in the wind, its integration into Twitter’s overall strategy left to a product division that hadn’t really overseen its development.”
The question is whether a solid, cohesive team can re-assemble this rubble into something powerful. Enter the fold are two gents: Bob Moczydlowsky, the knowledgeable (and likable) ex-VP at Topspin; and Nathan Hubbard, the former CEO of Ticketmaster and an avid music lover and former touring musician.
More as it develops. Image by Magnus Bråth, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0). Written while listening to Samuel Barber.
Bob Moz is definitely the man for the job.
I’ll put my eggs in that basket all day long!
A link to the WSJ report would be helpful and courteous
yep. here:
In five years after all IPO dust is down Twitter will shut down itself or will be sold to Facebook or MSN for a song.
Twitter has just limited advertising income possibility.
To value an outfit with 200 million not all active users at 12 to 18 billion dollars is just another case of Wall Street chutzpah – well done PR.
In the meantime Shazam with 375 million users continues it’s charitable support of pirating public.
It is losing money year after year and recent life saving cash infusion by Mr. Slim puts it at just $400 millions.
Labels have to get the vision how Shazam as a sales point can save itself and the industry.
I forgot, current valuation of Twitter puts Shazam at 50billion!
Unlike Twitter or Facebook Shazam is able to sale real product tomorrow.
Lets bribe them or force them legally to do just that.
Labels it is time to talk to Shazam, Soundhound, Gracenote and few others.
Sony which paid a bundle for nonperforming Gracenote should start the process.