iTunes: from Ping to Facebook

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Share with iOS 6: Facebook,
Twitter and Chinese Weibo ( 新浪微博)

Ping, the social network launched by Apple two years ago, closes at the end of September. It "will no longer be available" as the euphemization goes (cf. infra). As a social network for music, all kinds of music, Ping should have succeeded. On paper it was very promising. But it proved disappointing, despite the strong support of iTunes and its million users and music fans.
Why? Probably because of Facebook. Facebook,- more than YouTube, which seems to become more and more a place for broadcast, like radio or TV. For most people, Facebook is the natural place for sharing music with friends. Music is what we share with friends. Music is social, it is often the basic cement of friendship, a first step in sharing feelings and love.

Apple has drawn the conclusion from the Ping experience and will now collaborate with Facebook. Facebook and Twitter (already in iOS 5) will both be fully integrated. From iTunes, you can now share and like directly on Twitter or Facebook. In iOS 6, by the way, the YouTube app is no longer installed by default. All of this sounds like a major ongoing battle, Google (YouTube and Google +) on the one hand, Facebook and Apple on the other.

Why Facebook? Metcalfe's law, the network effect, incites merging,... The barrier to entry for new social networks is now very high. The only place left is for specialized social networks: music, sport, photos, health, wine, cooking, video games... and professional sites  (including LinkedIn, Viadeo, ...). And, except for professional reasons (or hobbies), you probably only use one single network. Facebook is becoming a total, one-stop networking experience: localization (check in), friending, communication, shopping...
N.B. It should be noted that, in Russia, Rutube, the so-called Russian YouTube, links up with Facebook.

Specialized social networks for musicians are plenty. Most of them are like marketplaces where people look for jobs and promotion in the music industry. Examples include: Fandalism ("Use Fandalism to show your playing and meet other musicians"); Dilettante, a social network for classical music, did not last long (January 2008 - December 2010); Pitchfolio, "the Worldwide Contact Point and Job Noticeboard for the Classical Music Profession"; Socialnetworkformusicians ("Assert your presence on social networking sites to generate sales AND expand your fanbase!"), etc. These specialized social networks all refer back to Facebook as a meta social network.

There are obviously two kinds, two levels, of social networking: those which strive to be universal and those which are specialized. In the long run, which category will Pinterest, FourSquare, Instagram, Yelp, etc. belong to?

Sceenshot of iTunes (September 2012)