Facebook to Launch iTunes Competitor

Posted by Nick O'Neill on October 5th, 2007 9:00 AM

An extremely reliable anonymous source has informed me about Facebook launching an iTunes competitor within their company. Over the past months Facebook has been searching for a CEO to head up this new subdivision. Facebook has been pursuing agreements with a number of record labels. The target market was supposedly college students but unfortunately details are limited.

One thing is for sure though. If Facbook decides to launch an iTunes competitor the existing music applications on the platform are not going to be happy (unless of course they are granted permission to become a lead generation tool for Facebook). This may be a little late on the timing though if downloadable music is eventually going to become free. Regardless, Facebook has been working on this project for many months now. I heard rumors of this back in March but none had been substantiated.

My most recent informant knows one of the people being interviewed for the position. The only thing under question at this point is how are they going to integrate this properly. Also, is this a tangent to their primary business model? Would you buy music from Facebook?

Posted in News, Music
Digg Icon Digg this article Del.icio.us Icon Save to del.icio.us Share Share on Facebook

38 Responses to “Facebook to Launch iTunes Competitor”

  1. Rumor: Facebook to Launch MP3 Store? Says:

    […] to launch an iTunes competitor and is actively pursuing deals with a number of record labels. All Facebook reportsf that the company is also looking to hire a CEO to head the new division, and has been working on […]

  2. Blog Feeds about Music » Archive » Facebook to Launch iTunes Competitor Says:

    […] You can read the rest of this blog post by going to the original source, here […]

  3. Lonely CEO Media - Facebook Application Development and Consulting Says:

    Facebook’s Music Store?…

    What do you do when your site’s visitors are literate in, and willing to use, piracy for all their content?
    Start a music store?
    Both the logic and veracity of the latest report are doubtful. Apple makes little to no money on iTunes- it’s u…

  4. Facebook to Launch an iTunes Competitor? — Facebook Observer Says:

    […] rumor is afloat, brought to the surface by Nick O’Neil that Facebook is working on a music service that will compete directly with iTunes. According to […]

  5. Rumor Mill: Facebook launching a music store? « the listenerd Says:

    […] launching a music store? October 5th, 2007 All Facebook, the Unofficial Facebook blog claims that Facebook is readying an iTunes […]

  6. Rumor: Facebook To Launch MP3 Store? « GigaOM Says:

    […] PT | No comments Is Facebook planning on launching an MP3 store? Mashable this morning linked to a post on All Facebook that notes an “extremely reliable anonymous source” tipped off blogger Nick O’Neill that […]

  7. iLike Launches Service for Musicians - The Unofficial Facebook Blog Says:

    […] Facebook will join the competition if my sources are correct. It will be interesting to watch this all pan out. If you are an independent musician […]

  8. MyTechnologyCompany.com | Facebook to Go Into Music Distribution? Says:

    […] Allfacebook.com is reporting that Facebook is looking at leveraging its relationship with college students to go into the downloadable music industry. If the report is true, this would be the first crack in Facebook’s previously flawless execution. With so many other services doing it really well (iTunes and Amie Street to name just a few), why would you build it yourself when you have so much more to do within your core business? […]

  9. blackrimglasses.com » Blog Archive » Facebook to Launch iTunes Competitor - The Unofficial Facebook Blog Says:

    […] interesting… [From Facebook to Launch iTunes Competitor - The Unofficial Facebook Blog] You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not […]

  10. Lajolla5380 Says:

    We’re finally going to see some of Parakey’s technology. Music that you buy will be available online through Facebook to access from anywhere and it will sync with your home computer to store the music locally. I don’t understand all the skepticism…this is awesome!

  11. Facebook as an iTunes Competitor? - CyberNet News Says:

    […] Now rumor has it that Facebook is in the process of putting together their own iTunes competitor. AllFacebook - the unofficial Facebook Blog is the one to report the news and says that “an extremely reliable anonymous source” […]

  12. theharmonyguy Says:

    Sorry, but this makes zero sense to me. This is definitely a tangent and I don’t understand how it would integrate with the vision Zuckerburg has painted for Facebook. The music market is right in the middle of big changes, so Facebook would have to really differentiate themselves to pull this off. Otherwise, I’d see little incentive to buy from them.

    Personally, I hope this rumor is false. Facebook needs to keep focusing on and refining the social utility they’ve built so well so far.

  13. Rumeur: Facebook préparerait le lancement de son “Music Store” Says:

    […] à iTunes et serait même activement entrain de tisser des partenariats avec nombreux labels. All Facebook rapporte que le réseau social aurait recruté un CEO pour prendre la direction de cette nouvelle […]

  14. Facebook: What would a Facebook music store look like?  »TechAddress Says:

    […] is reporting a rumor that Facebook will take on Apple’s dominant iTunes by introducing its own music store. Few […]

  15. Facebook To Take On iTunes? Says:

    […] is running an unsubstantiated rumor that Facebook is prepping an online music store that will see it compete […]

  16. Facebook se chystá konkurovat iTunes? Says:

    […] blogu AllFacebook se Facebook chystá spustit online obchod s hudbou, tedy konkurenci dominantnímu iTunes z dílny Apple. Údajný velmi seriózní zdroj dokonce […]

  17. TechCrunch en français » FaceBook se lancerait dans la vente de musique Says:

    […] fait courir la rumeur que Facebook est en train de concocter un magasin de musique en ligne qui rivalisera avec iTunes […]

  18. Tan The Man Says:

    If Myspace never tried to be an iTunes competitor, why would Facebook even think about doing so?

  19. Facebook inizierà a vendere musica online? Says:

    […] un rumor ma che verrebbe da una fonte abbastanza attendibile di AllFacebook, il social network che varrebbe dieci miliardi di dollari potrebbe aprire un negozio virtuale di […]

  20. Amaury Cork Says:

    I suppose with a 40 millions users base, facebook could do that. It would be attractive for labels. But it has to be DRM free because it needs to work on the any mp3 player, especially the ipod. The advantage is to show your friends what you are listening to and then it can spread the word about such and such band…..

  21. Facebook trying to compete with iTunes? | Gadgetell Says:

    […] [All Facebook] Comment on this post | […]

  22. AndrewJStone Says:

    […] rumor surfaced today outing a new online music distribution business from Facebook to compete with iTunes. From what has […]

  23. daily digital blog » Facebook trying to compete with iTunes? Says:

    […] Read [All Facebook] […]

  24. MySpace Help Blog » Blog Archive » Facebook Working On a Music Platform For Bands; Not iTunes Killer, But MySpace; Apple Tieup Says:

    […] to multiple sources I have spoken to since this morning after a slightly off-the-mark rumor came out earlier. The platform will allows bands and labels to create artists pages, and allow various widgets to be […]

  25. Facebook to race against iTunes? Says:

    […] is also working on constructing a music store of their own. This rumor comes straight from the AllFacebook blog, and he claims that this news was tipped to him by a very reliable anonymous source. He also […]

  26. music » facebook lançando loja de músicas? Says:

    […] rodrigo_magrello wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt […]

  27. music » Facebook to Launch iTunes Competitor - The Unofficial Facebook Blog Says:

    […] xjernejx wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt […]

  28. Anonymous Says:

    It’s not iTunes that is so popular… it’s the iPod. The iPod MAKES iTunes worth it, and right now 72% of mobile media users are using iPod… Good luck facebook! Ask Wal-Mart how that turned out!

  29. InTuneFM: scovare la musica su Facebook Says:

    […] tuo contatto ha caricato e che desidera condividere. Mi domando: e quando Facebook lancerà uno store di musica online? Probabilmente le cose cambieranno. Intanto… buon social […]

  30. » Facebook, un nouveau concurrent d'iTunes ? Says:

    […] de l’industrie de la musique. Cette information dite “très fiable” émane de Nick O’Neill. Ce qui est intéressant c’est que Facebook semble entamer unprocessus inverse de ce […]

  31. music » Facebook to Launch iTunes Competitor Says:

    […] nikography wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI hope that PaidContent is right and it will be an Apple/FB deal. Dave Morin could be a nice bridge […]

  32. NovaScene Says:

    An iTunes killer from … Facebook?…

    Everyone want’s Apple’s crown as the world’s biggest music superstore. Now social networking heavyweight Facebook seems to be the latest contender. Is this a natural thing for Facebook to do? It would probably be better if a third…

  33. Loving Links « The Rosemont Loving Says:

    […] AllFacebook - Facebook to Launch iTunes […]

  34. Facebook’tan Yeni Bir At?l?m : Rebelboy.net Says:

    […] Resmi olmayan Facebook blogu Allfacebook‘a göre ünlü sosyal a? sitesi,Apple’?n iTunes’una rakip olacak bir online müzik sat?? ma?azas? açacakm??. […]

  35. Weekly Digest of the Social Networking Space: Oct 10, 2007 Says:

    […] Facebook to launch music service Facebook to launch a music service, there’s plenty of rumors circulating it to be an iTunes killer, but without the hardware offering, it seems […]

  36. Rumour: Facebook To Launch MP3 Store? at Bandwidth Blog Says:

    […] Facebook planning on launching an MP3 store? Mashable this morning linked to a post on All Facebook that notes an “extremely reliable anonymous source” tipped off blogger Nick O’Neill that […]

  37. Rumor Mill: Facebook to Announce Something Tomorrow « PRNewser Says:

    […] it be a Facebook music store? A MySpace-like platform for bands? Microsoft to take a […]

  38. Facebook to Announce Music Next Week - The Unofficial Facebook Blog Says:

    […] I previously wrote about Facebook launching a music service. A couple days ago the rumor resurfaced that Facebook would be announcing the music service at the AdTech conference in addition to announcing their new ad network. According to Wired, the rumor has been confirmed by a Warner Bros. Records executive who posted on his blog that he is looking for Facebook application developer immediately. […]

Leave a Reply

Social Media - Monetize Social Media - Market Social Media - Manage Social Media