Social media success is driven by music, so it was no surprise that when Instagram debuted its first specific content vertical this week, it focused on music: @Music. The @Music ?channel? will highlight creators/contributors from all aspects of the global music industry ? from musicians to music photographers to fans ? in the form of ?11 series and 6 posts a week? from Tuesday through Sunday. There will also be a music-oriented monthly hashtag project to encourage community engagement.
Instagram?s head of strategic partnerships/music Alex Hull is confident that music is a top priority for the company saying, ?We don?t have the number yet, but we can see how important music is when we just look at the top accounts ? we know who they are, even if their name is @champagnepapi.?
The creation of the @music hub was largely driven by music huge presence on Instagram already. The app has become an essential tool for artist promotions and communications, and about 25% of the 300 million existing accounts on the app are owned by musicians.
Social media success is often intertwined with music fans, so this is a natural next step for Instagram. But the company is taking a different approach than Twitter did with its stillborn Twitter #Music service. Instagram, as The Verge explains, is focusing on storytelling, discovery and curation, rather than streaming.
