Messaging Moves: Spotify Partners With Tango, McCartney Promotes On Line
U.S. and European music interests are starting to make serious moves into the emerging landscape of hybrid messaging apps that are becoming communication and entertainment platforms. The quickly growing messaging app/platform Tango, with a large American audience, caught Spotify's eye and they're now providing music to Tango users. Paul McCartney started an account on Line, which is particularly strong in Asia, to promote his new album. Stay tuned for much more to come.
Spotify To Provide Music On Tango
Yesterday Spotify and Tango announced a deal to stream and share music via Tango's mobile messaging app:
"Starting today Tango members will be able to search Spotify's catalog of over 20 million songs on their mobile devices and instantly share clips of their favorites through group chat or with anyone in the Tango community using social features like 'People Nearby' and 'People You May Know.' The clips personalize Tango's messaging with the ability to easily discover and share music, and instantly access full versions of songs on Spotify with just one tap."
"Tango users will also have access to exclusive Spotify content, including a new live extended play (EP) from chart-topping sensation Lorde — recorded exclusively for Spotify, available beginning Nov. 1."
Tango, like many of the new breed of messaging apps, used mobile messaging as a base to create a communication and entertainment platform in a mobile app:
"Make video & voice calls, send text messages, play games and more all for free. Join over 150M people around the world using Tango as their #1 social messaging and entertainment app."
As CNET's Joan E. Solsman points out, Tango's biggest presence is in the U.S., about half, and Spotify obviously wants to grow there.
But this is much bigger news than people are making it out to be. As far as I know it's the first deal between a streaming music service and a messaging app/platform. There is likely to be much more of this in coming days as such platforms grow around the world and music services seek ways to expand their audience.
McCartney Promotes New Album on Line
The Next Web's Jon Russell takes a look at why Twitter should worry about messaging apps like Line given Paul McCartney's current campaign using the service which now claims 280 million users.
McCartney launched the Line account "to celebrate the release of his 'NEW' album." He then followed with free stickers, which are a big deal in the land of messaging apps, and announced that his "Japanese language LINE account has nearly 900,000 followers and his English language account has over 3,250,000." Thumbs up, Paul!
More:
- Messaging Apps Line and WeChat Open New Front In The Digital Music Wars
- Sticker Power For Musicians: Digital Money Makers From Messaging To Photo Apps
- Music Marketing On Messaging Apps: New Social Networks Attract Millions Of Young People
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
