Just updated to iTunes 10 the other day, and noticed a new area in my left-hand navigation - iTunes Ping.

Apple have just launched Ping, their new social network for music. Taking cues from Facebook and Twitter, on Ping, you can ‘follow’ your favourite artists to receive updates, and can also ‘follow’ friends to see what they’re up to musically (i.e.: what they’ve purchased, who they follow, etc.). Ping feels like the natural extension of the now flagging MySpace, but with a more direct way for musicians (and Apple) to see how and whether a person’s support for an act actually translates into a sale (on iTunes).

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.