iTunes Going Social?

The rumors of an iTunes-linked social application from Apple are growing:

[via More iTunes 9 details, Apple developing social networking application? : Boy Genius Report.]

1. The social networking integration that we reported iTunes 9 would have seems to be part of a bigger social networking push by Apple. We’ve been informed that Apple has plans to tie iTunes 9 into a “Social” application that they plan to release in the future. It was said that the application (separate from iTunes) will be similar to Yahoo’s OneConnect offering and consolidate all your social networking services. (iPhone application? Desktop app? Wasn’t clarified to us).
2. The application will allow you to broadcast what music you’re currently listening to, allow you to share your music with people on your network, connect with your friend’s friends (no clue on that one), and update all of your statuses at the same time. ITunes 9 will let you broadcast music statuses as well.
3. As far as the iTunes application organization feature, we’ve been told it allow you to sort your applications alphabetically, by genre, date added, and of course, custom arrangement.

Years ago, I suggested that Apple should buy then-independent Last.fm and integrate it into a future iTunes that would be social (see Building Social Applications).

Sounds like they are doing something a bit more lightweight and parasitic that what would be possible given the central role of iTunes in the world of music and other shared media.

Some thoughts:

• Streaming what you are playing, playlists, and various stats — like most popular artists per week, and so on. Especially replacing the oddball mechanism for sharing playlists by publishing them to the iTunes store.
• Being able to explore other people’s music preferences (a la Last.fm).
• Creating radio stations and streaming music.
• And of course with integrated ecommerce at every step.

As I said back in Feb 2006 “In the near future, all ecommerce will be socialized: where a user’s transaction will feel as if it is taking place in the context of some social interaction — like reading a review at a blog about a camera, or a vacation — rather than the online catalog or classified experience supported by Amazon and eBay.”