Apple launched its newest version of iTunes earlier this week. Along with some new interface graphics, the omnipotent peddler of online music has added a new attempt at a social media music community with Ping.

Not much is promised about Ping on the promo section of the iTunes store. But that’s probably not necessary. Music lovers are going to click it any way.

So I clicked. Setting up my profile was OK. Maybe even a little fun. Picking the 10 artists and songs that will display on my profile really engaged me. I took the time to be selective about which artists and which of their songs were displayed. Ping offered suggestions based on my music genre selections. (I was allowed three.) They were close on some recommendations, way off on others.

After my profile identity was completed, music representation posted and avatar loaded I was ready to enter the Ping community. This time recommendations were offered about which artists and Ping users I should follow. OK, I’m familiar with that process. So I selected a few of the suggested profiles. After I exhausted those options I ran a few searches for bands I am really interested in following. Pearl Jam - no profile. Jay-Z - no profile. Oasis - no profile. Metallica - no profile. Swiperboy - *GASP* no profile.

So I decided to check out the activity feed on the main page. It reads like a Facebook feed with opportunity to comment on posts. The most recent comment is visible, and you can expand the window to view all the comments on that post. I saw there was not much activity in general. There were a few Coldplay behind the scene type photos, a couple of Lady GaGa videos and Diddy reminded everyone that it was GIVE A HATER A HUG DAY.

So far my experience with Ping led me to wonder why is Apple even doing this. Activity is spotty, the community feels fragmented, it’s missing some of the clean Apple organization I appreciate.

And then. Duh. I found how very easy it is to purchase artists’ albums and songs. I think Apple may know they aren’t going to revolutionize an online music community. But they will capture a lot of clicks and make it really easy for people to buy Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream. Or at least the song du jour.