Jawbone’s DROP music app uses Twitter to crowdsource playlists

Though its UP and UP24 are more in keeping with this year’s wearable trend, in the music world, Jawbone is known for its Jambox and Big Jambox wireless speakers (as well as a handful of Bluetooth headsets). Now, the company is branching out and taking a step away from hardware with a new service called DROP.

Jawbone DROP requires premium Spotify or Rdio subscriptions to function. The app uses Twitter’s new Fabric SDK to allow groups to suggest tracks for a playlist. It also acts as your own personal DJ, building a playlist of your favourite songs (information it gleans from the connected Spotify or Rdio account).

The application’s tie-in to Spotify or Rdio is clear. DROP might be a standalone app, but it needs to play the songs it selects through your selected music streaming service. The Twitter connection is a little less obvious, but it’s what facilitates the social aspect of this app.

Groups looking to suggest a track for a playlist simply ‘drop’ the song to the DJ by @replying them with the instruction “drop [song title].” DROP then updates the mix with new songs based on everyone’s requests.

What’s not clear is how the app prevents one person from playlist-jacking the situation with a ton of requests or just multiple terrible song choices that aren’t right for the occasion.

Jawbone DROP is only about for iOS right now but it’s free to download on the US App Store. No word on when it will be added to the Canadian Store. And right now, only the person “DJing” with DROP needs to download the app.

[source]Jawbone[/source]