Changes were announced last week that music service Spotify and Facebook will collaborate closer.

Tracks will be played in the Spotify player within Facebook. And Facebook will track which music its users play. Also it will select “trending tracks”; music that is played by more friends and therefore is apparently popular. It is possible to add comments to music from friends and the played tracks are automatically linked with the artist’s Facebook page.

Users only need a Facebook account now and do not require to start a Spotify account (a.k.a. single sign on). People with a Facebook account use Spotify for free at first. The free subscription with limitations (Spotify Open, max 10 hour per month, max 5x same track) has been temporarily canceled. After 6 months the limitations will return, thus deliberately lowering the threshold. Or users are so hooked they will take out a paid subscription (Unlimited or Premium). In short, a business model to share music.

So there will be a forced closer connection between the two platforms. There is some debate about this. Not everyone likes Facebook, although there are about 800 million users. Some have reservations relating to its privacy policy for example. And where does it end? Do you need a Facebook account in the future to get an appointment with a GP?

Spotify says most of its users are already social and connected with Facebook. So this development logically follows.

Anyway, benefits are great for both parties. Facebook adds a music platform without having to buy one. And Spotify connects with a platform that has great reach, which may make its brand as well known as YouTube is now.

Adapted from article on 3voor12NL by Atze de Vrieze.