Hot on the heels of a deal with CNN and Dataminr to bring the benefits of its data to journalists, Twitter is focusing on unlocking the potential of its platform for the music industry. The company today announced a partnership with 300 Entertainment, a music industry firm founded by ex-Warner Music Group head Lyor Cohen, to delve into its data.
The partnership represents Twitter’s first step into music-related analytics, and it shows its continued efforts to be seen as a platform to provide consumer insight.
Excited to announce our exclusive new partnership with @TwitterMusic – working together on an unconventional approach to artist discovery!
— 300 Entertainment (@300) February 2, 2014
The New York Times reports that the union — announced at the Midem event in Cannes on Sunday — will see 300 Entertainment develop software that draws insight from the ‘full range’ of music-related data on Twitter, including non-public data such as the location from which tweets are sent.
Details of the actual products themselves are scant, with the Times merely explaining that 300 will “organize data and develop software that could be used by other artists, record labels or consumer brands.”
The Times explains more:
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
The depth and immediacy of Twitter’s data could reveal flickers that might otherwise go undetected, and also give an understanding of how fans communicate and react to music. Imagine, for instance, a music executive getting an early lead on a hot new rapper by tracking the most influential Twitter users in the rapper’s local scene.
Twitter’s initial foray into music came via its Twitter #Music service for consumers, which has largely been a disappointment. As I mentioned in my 2014 Twitter preview article, tapping into the music industry could bring big benefits for the company, in terms of ad revenue and increased engagement from influential users. Likewise, with more than 400 million tweets sent per day, there is a boat-load of useful information that labels, artists and others could take advantage of.
Bob Moczydlowsky, Twitter’s head of music, says the data services are likely to be made available after “a few months” of data scavenging and analysis from 300 Entertainment.
We’ve reached out to Twitter for further information about the partnership.
Update: Twitter provided the following quote from Moczydlowsky:
Music is the largest topic of conversation on Twitter, so we’re really invested in building a win-win environment for fans, artists, labels, promoters and music services. This partnership is a great example because it is about helping artists and labels find each other. We’re looking forward to working with Lyor’s team in the coming months, and we hope they find great artists to sign as a result.
Headline image via Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Images
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.