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Facebook Considers Move into iTunes Market

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 9:10 AM - by

The social networking site Facebook is considering moving into the online music service market, potentially bringing it into competition with Apple's iTunes Store. Site representatives began approaching record labels in the past week to discuss the possibility, according to the Financial Times.

There aren't many details yet about what Facebook's music service might entail, but record label executives expect it could include free ad-supported music streams along with pay-per-download songs in MP3 format.

Facebook isn't the only social networking site considering a jump into the online music business. Market leader MySpace is already working on its MySpace Music service which could also include concert ticket and merchandise sales along with music downloads.

Facebook has already added a MySpace-like feature that lets bands build their own promotional home pages. That feature lets bands link to the iTunes Store so fans can purchase their music, which may be at odds with Facebook's new plans.

Should Facebook follow through with its own online music service, record labels will likely see it as an opportunity to try to strip away some of Apple's control over the legitimate music download market.

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Tiger said:

member since 17 Jun 2003 with 1018 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:14 am

That's about as smart as Ron Paul thinking he's got a shot at the presidency. A small buy-in from loyal users, but facing overwhelming odds and staring down the barrel of a gun.

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geoduck said:

member since 30 Dec 2003 with 1922 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:03 pm

I disagree. Given the size of Facebooks's user base and the record labels wish to have other options than iTunes and that, from the article at least, some indie bands are already using Facebook to promote their music, I think this might have legs.

The real question is in the details. DRM? How much money goes to the artest and how much is skimmed off by the record companies and Facebook itself? There are many ways they could mess up and fail.

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TosaDeac said:

member since 05 Feb 2008 with 16 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:13 pm

MySpace and Facebook are both out of my demographic (early 30's) but I always thought Facebook started out as a college-aged, more mature alternative to MySpace, that didn't have all the crazy advertising and exploitation stuff. This would make me think Facebook is just degrading (from my uninformed perspective)into another MySpace. Also would likely hurt any relationship between Facebook and Apple (like the recent iPhone commercial showing how you can access your account so easily).

I think it is good that other companies try to keep Apple and iTunes on their toes, competition will help fuel improvements, but sometimes these companies also try to extend themselves too much and dilute their original, successful product. In our day and age of company specialization it seems like we get better products when someone sticks with what they are best at instead of trying to go to far out of their sphere of expertise. I guess you could argue this is the next logical step for Facebook though (just one I'll never even look at!)

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computerbandgeek said:

member since 09 Jun 2006 with 52 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:42 am

As a daily Facebook user and 16-year-old, I view this as just another annoying attempt at making it harder for people to listen to music legitimately. It directly translates into a doubling in the number of messages to me to the effect of "Hey dude you know a lot about music and computers, how do I put this stuff on my iPod?".

Facebook already has too many different branches that keep sprawling off the main trunk, and iTunes has way too many fruitless competitors. When will people learn?

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