Rhapsody signs major licensing deal with Twitter

Twitter is again cementing its place in the music business. First, it added a 'buy' button to its platform, then it confirmed long-running talks with SoundCloud over an acquisition with embedded players, now it's added Rhapsody players.

Using Rhapsody's library of over 34 million songs, the deal marks Twitter’s first with a streaming service and quells rumours it would side with Spotify. Rhapsody subscribers and free trial users can now post tracks on Twitter.

Available only through the Twitter app, Twitter’s 288 million monthly active users can stream Rhapsody’s catalogue, without having a Rhapsody account.

The deal, announced at SXSW on March 17, is an interesting move from Rhapsody, the service has long been a patron of the on-demand paid-for model and has been known to fund royalties itself.

“Our goal with this launch is to not only help make streaming more social, but also to reinforce that music isn’t free – every song played is accounted for and fully paid up,” said Ethan Rudin, chief financial officer, Rhapsody International.

Rhapsody hit 2.5 million subscribers earlier this year.

Twitter's push to enter streaming follows Twitter #Music, the app which aimed to use its users' ongoing conversations about music to push music discovery. The app, created by  Australian tech start-up We Are Hunted, was pulled from the app store in March 2015.