Wednesday, March 5,2008 @ 8:35am
Facebook to offer full-fleged iTunes rival?
Facebook is investigating the possibility of its own music store, say reported insiders. While the social network recently launched its Music on Facebook service for following artists and buying their music through iTunes, the company is reportedly in talks with major labels to offer content of its own. While no aspects of the deal have been finalized, label officials reportedly say that a deal would most likely include free, ad-backed streaming audio similar to MySpace's profile pages but allow paid MP3 downloads usable on any operating system and portable player.
Such a move would echo rumors of a MySpace store earlier this month, which also hinted at early negotiations to offer a mix of free streams as well as paid content. However, Facebook is expected to have an easier time persuading labels as it has encountered few if any complaints about copyright violations. Universal Music Group is still involved in an infringement suit with MySpace where it accuses the latter of violating copyright by hosting full tracks.
Both initiatives are believed to be prompted by a desire to tap into a ready-made audience that is not always possible with separate online stores, such as Amazon MP3 or iTunes.