Twitter is on a run of music partnerships, announcing a deal with Billboard yesterday to launch the ‘Billboard Twitter Real-Time Charts’. The plan is to “track US music conversations among the millions of Tweets sent each day” in order to “reshape for consumers and the industry the way music success is measured”. Billboard will promote the charts through Twitter’s Amplify advertising program, including using videos (within tweets) to spread the rankings. So, not a weekly chart in Billboard’s usual style, but real-time rankings promising to “reflect the top tracks being discussed at the moment and over an extended period of time on Twitter, as well as surface the most talked about and shared songs by new and upcoming acts”. The timing – just after Twitter revealed it’s closing its chart-orientated Twitter #music service – is clearly no coincidence. “When artists share songs and engage with their audience on Twitter, the buzz they create will now be visible to fans, other musicians and industry decision makers in real-time,” said Twitter’s head of music Bob Moczydlowsky. It’s a sign of Twitter’s evolving music strategy under former Topspin exec Moczydlowsky, following its A&R-focused partnership with Lyor Cohen’s new label 300, and reports this week of potential collaborations with SoundCloud, Beats Music and Vevo (Bulletin, 27-Mar-14).
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…