Trending music chart and social media chatter aggregator We Are Hunted disappeared from the web a few weeks ago following a mysterious acquisition from Twitter. Now, we have the result of said acquisition – Twitter #music. Many celebrities (i.e., Ryan Seacrest) have added their endorsement to the new music discovery service, which premiered amid lots of fanfare on Good Morning America.

But how does it stack up? Based on our preliminary poking around (in what is undoubtedly a trial and error period for Twitter) we determined that we like the concept, but it’s not without some flaws.

The user interface is slick and intuitive, for the most part. Users can toggle between grids of popular music trending on Twitter, emerging artists, and recommending music for you based on who you follow. You can also view grids of what’s playing from people you follow. Play buttons exist for said options, giving you an iTunes sample by default, with the option to sign in to Spotify or Rdio to listen to full tracks. Therein is the first flaw – you have to have premium subscription accounts to use the alternative streaming options.

If you click on an artist somewhere that doesn’t involve playing the track, it takes you to a page where you can see who the artist is following, and you are also given a link to iTunes to purchase music from that artist if you wish. That was a relief, as it wasn’t immediately apparent that Twitter #music would provide links to buy music or not. Also, it is worth noting that this is first and foremost a music discovery service, so don’t expect the versatility of playlist making that Spotify or iTunes has.

All and all, this is a nifty service. My fear is that the novelty appeal will wear off and that this service might be something that’s too little too late, given the versatility and app plugins with existing services.