Twitter drops Australian-developed music app

Twitter has pulled its #Music app from Apple iTunes’ App Store and will discontinue the service exactly one year after its launch.

The app was developed by Brisbane-based software start-up We Are Hunted before its three founders sold it off to Twitter in late 2012. When the music app launched on April 18 last year it debuted as the fifth most-downloaded app on App Annie, an app store analytics service. However, less than one week after the launch, Twitter’s Business Development Chief Kevin Thau exited to head up mobile app Jelly with Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone.

Thau’s departure was thought to prompt #Music’s demise, with App Annie ranking it as the 1,486^th downloaded app one month later. Tech website Wired has said that while the app has its unique selling point (it directs users to music via artists’ and others’ tweets), it “essentially just points users to other services.”

Twitter used the app’s Twitter Music handle to announce the news, mentioning users who currently have the app can use it until D Day on April 18.

“Later this afternoon, we will be removing Twitter #music from the App Store. If you have the app, it will continue to work until April 18.”

The service’s shutdown next month hints it was launched under a 12-month contract.

Twitter has indicated the death of the #Music app does not indicate a shift away from music: “We continue to experiment with new ways to bring you great content based on the music activity we see every day on Twitter,” it tweeted.