AFTER A WEEK of rumours, it’s here: Twitter have released a new app called Twitter Music.

It’s an app that aims to help music fans sort through the melée of Twitter by filtering tweets about particular artists and tracks, and tailoring them to the individual user.

Ireland is one of only six countries where the iOS app is now available (the others are the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand). It’s not on Android yet, but you can access the web version at music.twitter.com.

Here’s what it does – or claims to do.

1. It shows you what’s trending on Twitter overall

This is basically a chart of the most-tweeted songs across Twitter (so obviously Psy is on top). You can listen to a snippet of each, or if you’ve got a Spotify or Rdio account you can hear the full track.

You can also tweet songs directly from the app, obviously.

2. It shows you what’s up-and-coming

Or it claims to, anyway. The “Emerging” section offers “hidden talent found in the tweets” – but the blog post launching the app doesn’t give much away about how this works.

3. It suggests music you might like

Once you log in with your Twitter account, the app analyses the artists you follow and suggests others that may be similar. You can then listen to their tracks, follow them on Twitter, and see which other artists they follow from within the app.

4. It shows you the music which people you follow are tweeting about

This seems to us like maybe the most useful aspect of the app: a handy roundup of tracks tweeted by the people you follow. If you’re following Twitter during the day but don’t have time to listen to music, it’s easy to miss new material. This could be a handy checking-in point for that.

So, does it work?

As far as we can tell on first listen, yes. The interface is slick and easy to navigate, and it seems a potentially useful filter for finding new music in the noise of Twitter.

But you’ll need a paid-for Spotify or Rdio account to get the most out of it, at least on the app. (The web version should work with a free Spotify account.)

And at the moment you can only search by artist, not by track or album.

What are people saying about it?

Well, initial reactions range from excitement:

… to disappointment…

… to moderate pleasure…

… to surprise…

… to confusion:

You can download the app by clicking here (we couldn’t find it by searching from the App Store) or check out the web version here.

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