( CNN ) -- By the time you read this Twitter may have already announced it 's getting into the online-music business . If so , they will have plenty of company -- courtesy of some of the tech world 's biggest names . After days of speculation , Twitter on Friday rolled out a Web page for Twitter Music . Of course , it was a page that did n't do anything , but sent a pretty clear signal that the much speculated-about service was about to become a reality . ( The prevailing theory late Friday was that it would go live over the weekend , in conjunction with the Coachella music festival . But it did not . ) Early reports suggest the service will let users listen to the songs that are trending as most popular on Twitter and elsewhere on the Web . And it would be only one of several music-streaming services to either be introduced recently or rumored to be in the works . And it 's not just startups with names like Grooveshark any more . Google , Apple and Microsoft are among the major players now in the mix . Why are so many Internet titans getting into the game ? The answer is simple : dollars and cents . Online streaming , by which users listen to music either for free or for a monthly fee , is the fastest growing form of music listening , according to industry reports . The Recording Industry Association of America , in its annual report , said that while overall music sales were down in 2012 , digital-music sales were up 14 % , topping $ 4 billion . `` Digital growth was driven by large increases in revenues through what can broadly be referred to as 'access models , ' where users can choose to listen from large libraries of music rather than purchasing individual songs or albums , '' the report read . At the top of that heap are sites like Pandora and Spotify . Pandora lets users give it suggestions , then creates a personalized radio station . Spotify lets users pick exactly what they want to listen to out of a library of more than 16 million songs . Both make money either through ads or by letting users pay a monthly fee to go ad-free . Spotify has made no bones about its desire to make even the Apple iTunes model for digital music obsolete . Why pay for music when you can listen to virtually anything you want to hear for free ( or for a modest fee ) , they ask ? ( Some musical artists would say because it helps them make a living wage , instead of fractions of a penny for each of their songs played . ) For the first time , royalties earned from digital-music services in the UK just surpassed licensing revenues from radio broadcasts . And digital streaming is growing particularly fast among younger users . A Nielsen research poll from August suggested that teens now discover and listen to music on YouTube more often than on the radio , iTunes or CDs . `` The accessibility of music has seen tremendous expansion and diversification , '' said David Bakula , a Nielsen senior vice president . `` While younger listeners opt for technologically advanced methods , traditional methods of discovery like radio and word-of-mouth continue to be strong drivers . '' Here 's a closer look at the heavyweights hoping to get their share of the increasingly lucrative music market . Twitter . On Thursday , music-discovery company We Are Hunted confirmed reports that it had been bought out by Twitter . Instantly gone from the Internet , We Are Hunted would search blogs , social media and other sites for new music that was picking up serious buzz and add it to a constantly updated stream . One would assume Twitter plans something similar . `` We ca n't wait to share what we 've been working on at Twitter , '' reads a message on the now-closed Hunted site . `` We wish we could say ( what it is ) , but we 're not yet ready to talk about it . You 'll hear more from us when we are . '' DJ turned `` American Idol '' host Ryan Seacrest praised the app on Twitter on Thursday , saying it `` shows what artists are trending , also has up and coming artists . '' The official rollout could happen at Coachella on Saturday , though Twitter did not respond to a request for comment and had not confirmed that as of Friday afternoon . Apple . Reports have suggested that Apple , which already lets iTunes users listen to their own music libraries , is also eyeing the streaming-music space . Last month , reports surfaced that CEO Tim Cook had met with Beats Electronics , founded by hip-hop producer Dr. Dre and music-industry stalwart Jimmy Iovine . The maker of the popular `` Beats by Dre '' and other headphones announced in January that it had begun `` Project Daisy , '' a music-subscription service . Eddy Cue , an Apple executive who played a major role in creating iTunes , also attended the meeting , Reuters quoted three unnamed sources as saying . In its announcement of Daisy , Beats said the service would be released in late 2013 and `` bring an emotional connection back to the act of music discovery . '' Google . Google , meanwhile , is reportedly working to expand the already wide reach of YouTube in the Web music world . For young listeners , YouTube is already a massive music-discovery and listening tool . And , like Apple , Google provides virtual lockers for users to store and listen to their own music on multiple devices . Google 's service would reportedly let users subscribe to expanding streaming options . The company would n't confirm its plans on the record , but did n't shoot them down , either . `` While we do n't comment on rumor or speculation , there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads , so we 're looking at that , '' said a spokesperson for YouTube , which Google owns . Microsoft . Here 's the major player that 's already in the game . Xbox Music was introduced in October . It 's offered across a full range of Microsoft products , including the Xbox 360 , and uses the increasingly familiar ad-supported or ad-free for a fee model . While Microsoft flailed with its attempt at an iPod competitor , the Zune , the tech giant has been far more successful pushing the Xbox as an all-in-one entertainment device , not just a gaming console .
Twitter is the latest media player to get into music streaming . Ad - or - subscription streaming services like Spotify , Pandora are booming . Facebook , YouTube and Twitter all reportedly will roll out their services . Microsoft 's Xbox Music service was introduced in September .