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I was pretty excited to update to iTunes 10 after seeing some new UI updates and features. Aside from some interface changes (I’ll save that for another post), I wanted to get started on Ping, Apple’s “social network for music.” And then I started catching up my Twitter feed to see a few running posts by @Scobleizer<\/a> pointing out one significant flaw with Ping: Artist discovery. I couldn’t believe the names he was tweeting: Black Eyed Peas, Daft Punk, Madonna… So I gave it a try as well, searching around 15 headline-caliber artists, and what do you know? “Your search had no results.”<\/p>\n Was it too early to release Ping? Should Apple have waited a while to get more artists onboard? Definitely. After registration, Ping recommended only 12 artists to me, and I only chose 2 or 3 to follow. On top of that, I’ve been reading Facebook Connect has been axed<\/a> (for now) due to “onerous terms.” On the contrary, there are features that are pretty useful – concert tickets, especially. I’ve read reports that Apple was working on a partnership with LiveNation, but after clicking on the tickets link for a Jack Johnson concert, I was redirected to Ticketmaster.com. If in-app ticket purchasing is in the horizon, I could see it being a useful tool. We’ll see what happens in a few months, but for now, Facebook Pages, with a larger database of artists and essentially offering the same content, is shining.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.jeffsoo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Screen-shot-2010-09-02-at-10.25.39-AM.png\" "\\"Screen")
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