Facebook plans to add music services: Report

Facebook Inc is preparing changes designed to make the site a hub for listening to music.

New York: Facebook Inc is preparing changes designed to make the site a hub for listening to music, watching movies and playing videogames in much the same way people already use the social network site to share personal media like photos and videos.
"Facebook Inc is preparing changes designed to make the site a hub for listening to music, watching movies and playing videogames," the `Wall Street Journal` reported citing a source.

Facebook has recently said that it will begin letting online music services such as Spotify AB and Rdio Inc publish user activity on Facebook pages, much like actions such as adding friends or "liking" websites.

The move is part of a larger effort at Facebook to improve the discovery of all types of media content on the site.

If finalised, the changes could be announced at Facebook`s f8 developer conference in late September, the report said attributing a person familiar with the matter.

The Facebook initiative is designed to integrate the social-media giant more closely with services that let users stream free music or an unlimited amount of music for a monthly fee.

By contrast, Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc recently started "cloud" music services that let users upload their personal music collections to remote servers and listen to them remotely, and Apple Inc is preparing to start a similar offering.

The report said that in some cases, music services could create a player that would sit within Facebook, letting users hear music without leaving the site. However, the music itself would still be delivered through the third-party service, which users would be required to log in to before listening.

The new arrangement wouldn`t represent a partnership with any particular music service, it added.

Meanwhile, the report said that Time Warner Inc`s Warner Brothers movie studio in recent months has begun renting movies on Facebook.

As with the proposed music offerings, users watch the movies, on Facebook, but they are delivered by third parties.

Warner Bros charges 30 to 40 Facebook credits for the rentals, with the site taking a 30 percent fee its standard cut of transactions using its proprietary currency. A Facebook credit is worth 10 cents.

PTI

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