Facebook has grown so steadily since its release in 2004, making it possible to do just about anything on the site. A piece that’s been missing from the puzzle is a way to integrate a music platform so users can listen to tunes right within Facebook. Recently, there has been talk about Facebook developing such a service with rumors of partnering with music subscription service Spotify as well as others. The next developer conference is said to be focused around this music integration, most likely in August.
Some features have been speculated as to how Facebook’s music service will actually operate. A “Music” tab will appear on Facebook if users are interacting with one of Facebook’s music partners. Opening the tab will prompt a Music Dashboard of sorts, which will show anynotifications, a real-time news feed of what friends are listening to, and top songs and artists recommended by friends. The chat button at the bottom of the Facebook browser will transform into your music controller, where you can see what you’re listening to from whichever partner you’re utilizing through Facebook Connect. Lastly, you’ll be able to pull up a list of what you’ve recently listened to, top tracks, and play counts.
Some of these features are of course strikingly similar to the iTunes platform, which have people wondering if a rivalry will exist. Oppositely, with Apple’s iCloud services coming in the fall which will allow users to store their entire iTunes library through cloud services, the rivalry may only go so far, considering Facebook will only be able to offer streaming services through partner companies.
Ultimately, there is much to be expected from Facebook and their alleged music services. It will give users an opportunity to increase their Facebook usage even more by making a music library available to them while they continue to use the social site as a resource for most other things in their daily lives. Although a definitive time has not been established, we will most likely hear more about such an integration in the coming months.
