If Twitter Music dies and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If Twitter Music dies and no-one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?
Twitter Music on the chopping block, reports claim

Just six months after making a big song and dance about the launch, Twitter is 'strongly considering' shutting down its Twitter Music app, according to reports this weekend.

The All Things D blog brings word from Twitter insiders that the social network may hit the mute button on the disappointing trending music portal, as part of a revamp of its music division.

The report says Twitter hasn't decided exactly when #Music will meet its maker, but "the app's fate is nearly sealed" according to those sources familiar with the company's thinking.

There were high hopes for the platform, which plays single songs through Spotify or previews through iTunes, but numbers have been "abysmal" the sources admitted.

Muted response

The idea behind the app is to direct users to music that's currently trending on Twitter through the #NowPlaying hashtag.

There are Superstar, Popular and Emerging categories as well as Unearthed and Hunted categories geared towards music discovery. Users can also listen to charts from their favourite genres.

The idea sounded decent in principal, but the inability to play more than one song at a time from the artist and the questionable selections made it difficult for Twitter to tackle the likes of Spotify and Pandora.

If Twitter does indeed decide to pull the plug on its experiment, it'll be interesting to see where, if anywhere, the company's music strategy goes from here.

Chris Smith

A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.