If you tried it out, first reactions?


I think it's alright. Just a service where you can share with your friends what music you buy and like. Doesn't seem to be anything more. It'll definitely sizzle out.

Didn't try it out; are a lot of your friends on it? Did you have to go search them out? How much non-music-related info did you need to / were you able to put in?

You can select up to three musical interests and up to ten tracks you like from any genre. Other than that, it lists your location (optional as well). The only info it'll show after that is who you start following and the things you buy & review.

You're profile picture is also displayed next to reviews you write. It's not a heavyweight and I don't think it ever will be, so maybe it'll be a thing Apple keeps whether it bombs or thrives.

Oh, to find friends you can either search their name (maybe even iTunes account name) or via facebook connect.

It sounds like Audioscrobbler plus a bit of Facebook fan page/Twitter account stuff. What's its USP?

USP? I think it allows you to follow the artists you like - much like Twitter & Facebook - but allows you to buy new albums or tracks right from their profile. I've taken a look at a few artist profiles already and saw a few embedded tracks and you can buy them from Ping.

Aye, USP as in Unique Selling Proposition/Point. I guess I can't really see what this offers that isn't already provided by other services, and I'm not a fan of getting everything through a single source (when buying music online I'll shop around for a good deal first) - last.fm currently lets you buy tracks from 7digital, Amazon MP3 or iTunes and albums from Amazon or eBay.

I agree about that, not to mention I have a general dislike of iTunes in general, so I could never really see myself using this product and service at all.