The company has launched a free Android app called Play, which AOL describes as “Instragram for music.” Like the popular photo-sharing app, Play allows users to follow each other’s activity to see what music their friends are listening to as well as “like” and comment on what they see. Specific songs are also shareable via Facebook and Twitter.
“It’s a music player with a social layer,” explains an AOL spokesperson.
Online music streaming company Rdio, which recently released an API, will provide 30-second samples of songs that users find in friends’ streams. If Play users also have a full subscription to Rdio, they’ll be able to stream entire songs from their friends’ lists instead of just samp les.
Coincidentally, one of the new app’s competitors is Rdio’s own app, which also allows users to follow their friends’ recent downloads and favorite songs. Other social music apps include FlyCast, Pandora, Shazam, Tap Tap Revenge and OurStage Radio.
Play also has features that give users access to new music. Launching Play on the first day of SXSW was no accident, and promotion tied to the event is built right into the interface with an option to view live video of SXSW concerts. AOL’s music site, Spinner, will also provide free “MP3 of the Day” tracks for Play listeners.
Though Play is the first mobile-only product that AOL has launched, expect to see more of AOL in the future (starting with an iPhone version of Play within the next few weeks). In August, the company acquired one-year-old startup Rally Up and its team of mobile app developers in order to augment its new mobile-first approach.
“For the firs t time, AOL mobile...
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