Will Facebook launch its own streaming service?

Facebook is reportedly talking to record labels with a view to potentially launching its own music-streaming service. The social network is one of the few major tech companies without such a service, but that could be about to change and put Facebook in direct competition with Apple and Spotify.
Apple recently launched its Music service, which in some ways encroaches on Facebook’s territory by including a Connect facility that lets you follow and receive updates from favourite artists. Apple’s previous attempt to bring social networking to music, Ping, was an unmitigated disaster, and it may be that Facebook believes it can do a better job of connecting artists to fans, given that many major artists already have significant Facebook followings. Integrating music streaming into Facebook would also increase the amount of time that users spend on the social network, thereby boosting the company’s potential to sell advertising.

However, Facebook would have a hard time persuading artists and labels to let its users stream unlimited music for free.

[highlight color=”pink”]Facebook never misses a trick when it comes to making money from its 800 million users, and it may be tempted to start streaming music following the massive success it’s enjoyed with video content. We expect an announcement very soon.[/highlight] Apple has already won favour by offering the labels a greater share of the revenue from its Music subscriptions, once its three-month free trial has ended. The company was forced into a making public U-turn after US songstress Taylor Swift protested against Apple’s initial decision not to pay royalties during Music’s three- month trial.

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