So What if iTunes Goes Social?

Just when we thought Apple had put the obnoxious dancing silhouettes to bed, there’s one front and center in a teaser of the company’s iPod-related event, scheduled for September 9. Lots of rumors are flying around, but the most interesting is the prospect of social networking features in the next version of iTunes, because Apple’s never done anything like that before. The idea is that iTunes would be completely hooked up to sites like Facebook and Twitter, allowing people to broadcast their musical tastes to the world.

That’s a cool feature on one condition only: Apple provides an easy way to find and listen in on friends’ music without immediately paying for it. If this is just another way to refer me to the iTunes store, I’m not interested. If it’s a way for me to hear some of my friends’ music, to the point that I become interested and then decide to purchase some songs, that’s better. Worst case scenario? It’s nothing more than a feed for people to say who they’re listening to. My friends have enough platforms to prove their superior musical tastes as it is. [via Fast Company]