Facebook and Music Platform. Facebook to launch new music service. IT will be easier for Facebook to play music requests after CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed he is about to rock his social network with a number of new streaming digital music features.

The company will announce upgrades to its platform, allowing music services such as Spotify, Rdio and MOG to more fully integrate with the social network, according to a number of sources with direct knowledge of the plans, the New York Post reported.

"They are coming up with an improved set of open APIs [application program interface] that will allow any licensed music service to share listening behavior," one music industry source said.

The new features signal a major charge by Facebook into the music space. Rather than partner with one digital streaming service, the social network is teaming with a number of high-profile ones to create a more social experience around music listening.

While Facebook's upgrades will benefit the myriad of startups that offer streaming music on-demand, Spotify will likely take top billing when the new features are unveiled at Facebook's annual f8 Developer Conference on September 22, sources said.

That is because Sean Parker, who has been with Facebook almost since the beginning, is also an investor in Spotify. Parker also co-founded Napster, the music file-sharing startup that upended the music industry.

Facebook members with digital music accounts will be able to listen to music while on the social network and share their tunes with friends, the sources said.

It was unclear if users would be able to buy music subscriptions with Facebook credits. However, the music labels did not need to give their approval for the tighter integration with Facebook, indicating that the social network would not facilitate transactions.

Facebook would not confirm its plans for the developers conference.

"There's nothing new to announce," the company said in a statement yesterday. "Many of the most popular music services around the world are integrated with Facebook, and we're constantly talking to our partners about ways to improve these integrations."

Source: news