People have been poking behind the curtain on Twitter’s Android app and have found a (dormant) setting for “payment and shipping” and now the tech press is piling in and declaring that Twitter is definitely (possibly) on the cusp of launching an e-commerce solution (perhaps). So what does it all mean? Well, no one really knows, but Twitter is surely feeling the pressure to monetise itself – and promoted tweets is only taking it so far down that road. So what could it means for music? Selling merchandise and CDs could become an option for artists/labels and streaming services could potentially punt subscriptions this way. But it all remains to be seen: a) how seriously Twitter is taking this; and b) what cut it is looking to take of any transactions. Those in music should not hold their breath for this and remind themselves of the pretty specular failure of the Twitter Music app last year. Twitter users might like to follow pop stars (and they dominate the most popular users), but it doesn’t automatically follow they will want to listen to anything from them or buy their products.
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,…