Twitter is introducing a new way to listen to music and audio on its platform with built-in media streaming from SoundCloud and iTunes that can be attached to tweets. Instead of sending users out to a website or separate app, songs and podcasts will now play right there below the tweet in a virtual "card," just like videos and pictures. SoundCloud links were initially limited to 50 or so partner accounts listed in Twitter's blog post, they also now appear to work for everyone using them. iTunes links will soon have quick purchase options from within the app, but for the moment it seems that only one track (a Foo Fighters song) is playable via the new feature. If you'd rather play the song or podcast on the original site, a link is provided below the built-in player.
Other audio platforms will be added to the mix soon, Twitter said, but it declined to name any of its upcoming partnerships. The additions are the latest move by Twitter to enrich the historically text-heavy platform with media, promotion and social networking features.
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