It’s been over a week since Facebook announced and implemented their music functionality, and we at 7Bit Arcade have had some time to have a play with it, and form our rather strong opinions about this feature.
Music services such as Spotify, Soundcloud, Rhapsody and about a half-a-dozen more have joined forces with the biggest social networking site, giving users access to over 15 million songs, and using Facebook Connect they allow automatic updates to your Facebook profile, allowing all to see what you are listening too. The ticker to the right hand side of your Facebook page now shows what your friends are currently listening too, clicking on any of these will display a popup allowing you to listen too through Facebook and of course it includes the usual sharing functionality.
Spotify has had Facebook integration for quite some time, allowing users to see and subscribe to playlists made by their Facebook friends, a rather nice feature should you share a similar taste in music. However, as of yet Spotify are the only music service to now only allow new registrations via your Facebook account, and whilst it may be hard to believe there are still people out there not using this social network, privacy concerns have led to a growing number deactivating their account. Is it possible that Spotify have limited it’s growth by choosing this chummy approach with Facebook, or has it opened itself up to exponential possibilities?
So, what have the 7Bit team made of it all?
“For someone who spends their entire life connected to the online world, I’ve found myself relatively unaffected by Facebook’s implementation of music. Despite having my headphones in for a good 8 hours every day, my choice of medium means my Facebook page isn’t being spammed by what i’m listening to.
Due to restrictions at my workplace, I’m unable to use my computer to listen to any music so i’m heavily reliant on my phone. Despite having a 60GB iPod somewhere, i never use it due to the ‘time and hassle’ of trying to keep it updated. I love the immediacy and response of apps, whereby I can read about about a band and within a few seconds i’m listening to their tracks. No need to wait til I get home, download the album and stick it on the iPod.
Spotify and Soundcloud apps are my life – and guess what? They don’t have any Facebook integration so my awesome music taste isn’t being filtered through the pages for all to see.
In the majority, I couldn’t care less what my Facebook ‘friends’ are listening to – we have completely different ideas and tastes in music. For those I do wish to share and keep updated with – well i’m already subscribed to them on Spotify, so for the most part this music integration is just more crap filling up my feed.
Where it does have incredible strength is when it’s linked into your timeline. Now Facebook picks out the ‘best bits’ of your years – your status updates, photos, friends, and now it’ll be able to soundtrack your life with the music you listened to during that time. Nice!
For the meantime, until the apps have Facebook integration, this feature will continue to go unnoticed by me.”
Lindsay
“When I first heard about Spotify for facebook, I was a bit dubious, imagining it to turn into something more like MySpace. However, as an idea, Spotify for Facebook has turned out to be a fantastic idea. It allows two widely used sites to come together to be a platform for listening to music, telling others what you are listening to and recommending it to them, which is something I am always keen to do. However, there is not enough awareness of it among the general users of Facebook, meaning it is not being used to its full potential. For this idea to work properly, it needs a greater number of users listening to a wider range of music. Until then, it simply seems like a glorified version of last.fm, which is more widely recognised and used, and which I will most likely be sticking to.”
Rachel
“I’m a bit ‘on the fence’ about this. Facebook have already abandoned the privacy thing, enabling people to see who wrote what on who’s wall etc. So I don’t think being able to see what music people are listening to will do that much justice, as it can spark off things like stereotypes. BUT, I do think that it will put Facebook back on the top spot, as at the moment, Tumblr and Twitter seem to be outshining it. When people here that they can access music through Facebook, it will become the favourite social networking site again.“
Katie
“Not really being too bothered about what my Facebook friends are listening to! If someone i know has good taste and posts up a Soundcloud or Youtube link to a track i like the look of, i will click through. There is a lot of stuff that i listen to which just isn’t on Spotify, so it’d be a bit useless sometimes.
And a stunning comment here from Bash
I won’t use it and don’t really see any huge value in it.”
Ashley
“It is safe to say my views on music are not the same as some of the people i am friends with. One guy has a shed seven obsession that borders on insanity! So for me i am already connected musically to the people who are important to me.
I also think it is very unfair that you have to now be on Facebook to have a new Spotify account. A lot of people still do not use Facebook because they find it to be of no value to them but that does not mean they do not place value in music!
Overall i shall roll with the changes but doubt it will impact me in a large way at the moment.”
Katy
“Facebook’s connectivity disconcerts me somewhat. Do you really want all and sundry to see you’re listening to Billy Ray Cyrus’ ‘Achy Breaky Heart’?
Whilst there are privacy settings within Facebook to decide who sees what; who has time to divide their social circle into subgroups to save their musical grace?
I have no qualms about my musical taste; as a comfortable heterosexual male who considers George Michael to be the male performer of the 90’s and has every Spice Girls release; I can see the divulgence of taste being an issue to others, as musical kudos for online persona’s can have far out reaching credence than in reality.
The bottom line is; Spotify as a free service has the ability to masquerade as an iTunes on speed. The ease of which new music is shared and experienced in its entirety against a familiar backdrop is a winner through and through. The integration with Facebook, I care not for, but I can see it affecting the musically vain. As long as Spotify keeps scrobbling my tracks to my Last.Fm account, I’ll remain a user who is more than happy to share his musical spoils with the world.”
Neil
[Since our team of writers voiced their initial opinions and after a wave of complaints following the launch, Spotify have been quick to sort out these privacy issues, allowing the user the choice to not show what they’re listening too should you feel the need to keep your guilty pleasures hidden. But it does seem an odd decision not to have included this functionality on launch.
Also, due to ongoing legal proceedings Facebook have had to sadly delay the launch of their Timeline feature.]
In the majority, it seems the team aren’t really that concerned as to what their friends as listening too, or are we too happy about enforcing our music tastes on everyone else. Whilst sites like Last.FM are still going strong ready and waiting for those desperate to seek and share music, this is at least a choice, but similar functionality on Facebook is feeling a bit forced. However, at least appearing in a ticker these updates are far less obtrusive than filling out our feeds amongst all the obnoxious couple and baby photos.
Being Facebook I’m sure this is only another step in a far greater plan, integrating everything we use the Internet for into the one website. We may scoff at this now, but I’m sure we all did the same when we all first used Facebook, and perhaps we will do the same again when we think back and remember a time when our entire lives weren’t published online.
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