Rumor: Facebook and Spotify collaborating on music streaming service

By Trevor Mogg May 25, 2011

Facebook and Spotify are two weeks away from launching a new music streaming service, according to a Forbes report.

“Sources close to the deal” have told Forbes that the service is now being tested. The report says that “when launched, Facebook users will see a Spotify icon appear on the left side of their newsfeed, along with the usual icons for photos and events.” It continues: “Clicking on the Spotify icon will install the service on their desktop in the background,” thereby opening up Spotify’s huge library of songs, allowing users to listen to them through Facebook.

If the two companies do announce news of a partnership, the service can only be rolled out in the countries where Spotify already has deals with music companies – namely Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Spotify is, however, planning to launch in the US, possibly this year, though no date has yet been fixed. The launch depends on Spotify’s ability to broker deals with the major music companies.

Possible names for the rumored Facebook/Spotify service range from “Facebook Music” to “Spotify on Facebook.”

Interestingly, the Forbes article also quotes a Spotify spokesperson as saying, “We have a Facebook integration. We’re continuously working with them to make that as good as it can be. But that’s the extent of our relationship.” The spokesperson is referring to Facebook Connect, which lets users see what music their Facebook friends are listening to.

The report also states that “no money is changing hands” in the deal, but of course, both companies will be winners in the event of a launch. Facebook would get a music service thereby giving users one less reason to plod off to other parts of the Internet in search of content, while Spotify would gain access to millions more users – which could then lead to more revenue through sign-ups to its premium service.

The bottom line is, no official announcement has been made yet by either company. Only last month there was talk of Google partnering with Spotify for its then unannounced music service. Though those two companies may have had talks, no deal has been brokered up to now.

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