Twitter Takes an Interesting Step into Music Analytics
Most of us consider Twitter and broadcast and information service. But behind the scenes, Twitter is also a massive gatherer of data. Every tweet can be categorized, parsed and analyze in the pursuit of meaning through the analysis of Big Data. The resulting insights than then be sold to parties looking to gain some kind of an edge in the marketplace.
Twitter already has deals in place with CNN and a company called Dataminr to help journalists pursue stories. Now the company has a deal with 300 Entertainment, a new music industry operation that wants to know what we’re all tweeting about when it comes to music.
From the New York Times:
“There was a time not so long ago when we sold music to retailers and they sold to fans, but nobody knew who those fans were,” said Mr. Cohen, 54, who started as a hip-hop promoter in the 1980s and rose to top posts at Island Def Jam and Warner Music Group. “I’ve spent most of my life not knowing who the customer is. Isn’t that a shame?”
The reading of music’s digital tea leaves has become a big business as companies like Gracenote, Next Big Sound and Musicmetric have joined traditional players like Nielsen in providing information about music online. But while music is the most popular topic on Twitter — users discussed it in more than one billion messages last year — its depths have not been fully plumbed.
The rest of the article can be read here. Interesting, no? Let’s hope this works out better than Twitter Music.
