How Twitter Could Make Apple's Ping the Next MySpace (In a Good Way, That Is)

Apple (APPL) quietly began a partnership with Twitter during last week's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) to integrate the social network more into Apple mobile products. Picture sharing and other aspects were discussed, but the biggest impact will be on Apple's all-but-forgotten music-related service, Ping. Facebook essentially neutered the music social network at launch last year, but Twitter gives it the opportunity to fill the vacancy left by MySpace.

The Facebook diss
In case you forgot, which many have, Ping was built into the underwhelming iTunes 10. It allows users to "follow" other friends on iTunes, "like" certain artists, and track what musicians are doing via a "news feed". Sound familiar? It's Facebook for music. It made perfect sense for Apple to partner with the social network to provide the backbone.

Unfortunately, Facebook balked literally at the last minute. Apple founder Steve Jobs said Facebook was pushing some "onerous" terms. BNET contributor Erik Sherman argued that both companies knew that Apple needed Facebook to make Ping work:

How do I know that Apple needs Facebook so much? Because Apple was willing to step outside of its ecosystem in the first place. The company doesn't like to partner, unless the partnership involves getting a cut of a sale that another company makes. But building a real social network atop iTunes? It simply can't happen, because the interaction is too restricted.

Without a social network backbone, Apple's Ping is a weird, insular community trapped inside iTunes. Users have no easy way to find friends and, without an outside partner, no way to communicate with the world outside of their music player.

Why Twitter matters
Twitter, of course, is a welcome substitute to Facebook, and Apple's new partner may make Ping a strong social network in itself. Here's how:

• Integration into mobile devices: Ping is already built into the iPad iTunes. Ping with Twitter enabled will allow image and audio documentation, kind of like Instagram with music. In fact, Ping has the opportunity to take the steam out of one of the more popular third-party music apps, SoundTracking.
• Quickly finding friends: Like other services, Ping could use Twitter to help friends find each other. Depending on the level of integration, Ping could also recommend friends based on similar music tastes.
• Preview and promote music: Like SoundTracking, Ping could allow a user to share a favorite song clip to both followers within the service and followers on Twitter. It has the power to be a simple, yet significant promotional tool for musicians, not to mention a sales tool for iTunes, as listeners could click to purchase the featured song straight from the music store.

Essentially, Ping has the potential to be MySpace 2.0. Apple has been surprisingly lo-key about Ping since its launch, but, with the new Twitter relationship, we can expect it to trump out new Ping features by year's end.

Photo courtesy of swanksalot // CC 2.0
Related:

• How Apple's Lame Ping Social Network Might Yet Thrive on the iPad
• Apple's Ping Can't Overcome the Facebook Zing
• Why Apple and Facebook Will Make Peace Over Ping

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