I don't think Twitter would buy SoundCloud for audio Tweets or podcasts. Rather, I'd argue that SoundCloud is the #1 source of up-and-coming music on the Web t

I don't think Twitter would buy SoundCloud for audio Tweets or podcasts. Rather, I'd argue that SoundCloud is the #1 source of up-and-coming music on the Web today. Between play and upload information from SoundCloud and mention and trend information from Twitter, Twitter could easily become a content-discovery powerhouse. Information about the "next big thing" will always hold value for marketers, and access to the trendsetters who are consuming the "next big thing" is worth even more. Between their folded #music attempt based on We Are Hunted and their recent acquisition of Gnip, it's obvious that Twitter are trying to expand and sell their role as a destination for information about the up-and-coming. That's why they'd buy SoundCloud - Twitter could let marketers learn what's hot next, who's consuming it, and then allow them turn around and sell ads directly to those influencers.