As Apple wades into streaming music online like Spotify and Pandora, rumors are flying that Facebook could be next.
The social media giant is in talks with major music labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, though Facebook hasn t decided exactly what it wants to do yet, The Verge reported, citing unnamed sources.
While a music streaming service could be a possibility, Billboard also reports that Facebook is looking into displaying music videos in a user s News Feed — a move that could pull video views from YouTube. It wants to test the idea of a music video trial and is talking to music labels to possibly strike up licensing deals for the pilot, the music magazine says.
Potentially showing music videos isn t the only way Facebook is challenging YouTube.
The social media company also said this week that it is splitting ad revenue with video creators like YouTube does and plans to show suggested videos to people on Facebook. About 55 percent of the money would go to the video creator and 45 percent to Facebook.
Topping 4 billion video views per day, Facebook has been ramping up efforts this year to display video ads as more people turn to their computers and smartphones to watch videos.
Despite all the comparisons to YouTube, the video-sharing website is still a major player in online video advertising, making up an estimated 20 percent of U.S. video ad spending, according to eMarketer.
Photo Credit: A logo created from pictures of Facebook users is on display at the company s data center in Sweden. (Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP/Getty Images)
