Big news for the music industry, CEO Ian Rodgers of Dr. Dre and Trent Reznor’s Beats music streaming service has launched a new phone streaming service like never before. The program, called Twilio SMS, allows listeners to stream a new exclusive song over the phone which is followed by a download link sent via text message, all for free. The first two tracks have been contributed by Trent Reznor’s How to Destroy Angels and the Beastie Boys.
According to Twilio.com, the site’s base, the service was launched by Rodgers on Music Hack Day which took place this year from February 16-17th in San Francisco. The two songs that are currently being offered are an instrumental version of “Shadrach” by the Beastie Boys and a new song by How to Destroy Angels titled “And the sky began to scream” which will appear on the band’s upcoming LP titled Welcome oblivion. A pre-recorded message from Mike D of the Beastie Boys and Trent Reznor introducing their tracks precede each playback.
Here are Twilio’s instructions:
“When you dial (310) 299-8756, press two and choose what artist you’d like to leave a message for. For Beastie Boys, press one. For Trent Reznor, press two. Once you leave a message, press pound and stay on the line. You’ll then hear the new track you just unlocked. After you hang up, you’ll get a text via Twilio SMS with a link to download the track you just heard.”
The sound quality is relatively weak, however, but according to Twilio the service is still being tweaked and more tracks will follow. Try it now!
(Photo from Consequence of Sound)