Twitter Partners With iTunes, SoundCloud To Let Users Stream Music, Audio Tracks

Twitter on Thursday launched a new feature called “Audio Card,” which will allow users to play podcasts, music and other audio tracks from their timelines on both iOS and Android devices, all while browsing through Twitter's application uninterrupted.

The social media company announced that it has teamed up with Apple to let users listen to music from select iTunes artists and buy music directly from the iTunes store. The partnership is expected to help musicians promote their new albums while providing people with a new way to discover songs on iTunes, the Wall Street Journal reported, adding that Twitter will not get a share of the revenue when users purchase music using the new feature.

“With a single tap, the Twitter Audio Card lets you discover and listen to audio directly in your timeline on both iOS and Android devices. Throughout your listening experience, you can dock the Audio Card and keep listening as you continue to browse inside the Twitter app,” the company said in a blog post.

Following the announcement of the Audio Card, American rock band Foo Fighters used the feature to tweet the official release of “Something From Nothing,” the new single from their forthcoming album “Sonic Highways” on iTunes.

Twitter also joined hands with Berlin-based audio-streaming service SoundCloud to allow users to play audio files on mobile devices. Twitter has also promised audio tracks from SoundCloud's partners, including NASA, the White House, David Guetta, Coldplay and Warner Music.

“We’re just beginning to test the Audio Card and plan to make it available to more partners and creators in the future so that many more musical artists and creators will be able to share exclusive, in-the-moment audio to millions of listeners on Twitter,” the company said.

Twitter, which was rumored to have been reconsidering its music strategy, reportedly considered buying SoundCloud recently.