Twitter is known as a 140-character social messaging service but the company has its eyes set on developing a mobile music app for Apple iOS. Twitter plans to brand the service as Twitter Music and use technology from a firm it acquired last year, as well as partner with SoundCloud.

While Twitter Music hasn't been formally announced, Bloomberg and CNET have reported that it is in the works. Twitter's acquisition of digital audio discovery startup We Are Hunted was designed to make a push into music.

Twitter is diversifying to better compete with rival social networking sites and to create more value ahead ahead of a possible initial public offering. In January, Twitter introduced a new app for creating and sharing six-second videos via mobile phones. The app was created by another startup acquired by Twitter, called Vine.

By adding music, it would allow record companies and artists to promote new releases more effectively. Streaming services such as Spotify and Rdio are already heavily integrated with Facebook to let subscribers share songs and playlists. Facebook has also updated its news feed to make it easier to discover music, and Netflix has announced it will let its users become more social.

Executives at two major record labels first learned of Twitter's plans after CNET reported the development of a music app, according to Bloomberg.