Facebook users could soon be able to listen to their favorite tunes from the same site that also lets them "Like" comments and tag photos. CNBC.com reports via unnamed sources that the social networking service could launch its own music platform in the next few weeks. The official announcement could come at f8, Facebook"s own developers conference that"s scheduled to be held on September 22.
The story says that the Facebook music service may not actually offer any songs to purchase or download as there are no indications that the company has talked with music publishers about licensing rights. Rather Facebook may open up the web site to third party music providers such as Pandora and Spotify. Those subscription based streaming music services could see a big jump in users with the right deal from Facebook since the company has over 750 million users worldwide.
Another possible reason for a September launch is Apple. The company usually announces its iPod hardware refresh lineup during the month and it"s also expected to announce the next version of the iPhone at the same time. Facebook might want to reveal its own music service around the same time in order to take some of the luster off of Apple"s announcement.
Facebook has been quite busy in the last few months launching new features such as a stand alone Messenger app for iPhone and Android smartphones and video messaging via Skype. However the company has also had its share of issues: earlier this month it announced that its Deals group coupon business was shutting down after just four months.