text: Facebook intends to launch its long-rumored music service next month with Spotify, MOG and Rdio as three of the company's launch partners, Mashable has learned. 
   
   The music and media platform will be announced at Facebook's f8 developer conference on Sept. 22. It will allow users to listen to music from within Facebook.com. Evidence of Facebook's music platform first surfaced in the code of Facebook's video chat service. 
   
   According to two sources familiar with the matter, Facebook will not directly host or stream any music or media. Instead, it will rely on partners to provide the content. This is in contrast to Apple, Google and Amazon's strategy of hosting music content on their servers. Facebook's plan is to become a platform for media content in the same way it is a platform for applications and games. 
   
   One of our sources specifically mentioned three music services as launch partners: Spotify, Rdio and MOG. It's unclear whether Facebook has lined up other launch partners for its music platform or whether Facebook will open up its platform to other developers. One of our sources noted, however, that Facebook doesn't like playing favorites, so our bet is that Facebook will open up its music platform to other third-party developers. 
   
   We've also heard whispers that Facebook intends for this platform to go beyond music — for example, it's possible that Netflix could stream movies through Facebook. However, we don't know if Facebook will go beyond the music platform announcement at f8. 
   
   Update: "There's nothing new to announce," a Facebook spokesperson told us. "Many of the most popular music services around the world are integrated with Facebook and we're constantly talking to our partners about ways to improve these integrations." ||||| The Facebook logo is shown at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California May 26, 2010. 
   
   NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook is putting finishing touches to new features on users' home pages that deeply integrate music services from partners including Spotify, MOG, Rhapsody, Slacker and Rdio, according to people familiar with the plans. 
   
   The music platform is expected to be unveiled at Facebook's developer conference, which kicks off on September 22. 
   
   Facebook was not immediately available for comment. 
   
   Though Facebook is the world's most popular social networking services with more than 750 million users, its founder Mark Zuckerberg is keen to increase the amount of time users spend in the Facebook environment. 
   
   Music is said to be just one aspect of the strategy to improve Facebook's 'stickiness' and it is also expected to partner with other media content owners like movie studios. 
   
   "They are working on a platform for music where the goal is to create a connective tissue for fans," said one person familiar with the talks who asked not to be named as the plans are confidential. 
   
   Facebook has declined to comment on its new music platform before, but in July several technology blogs reported a software engineer had uncovered programing code for a Facebook product called 'Vibes' for music downloading. 
   
   Facebook could give an important boost to its fledgling music streaming partners as they try to compete in a digital music sector dominated by Apple Inc's iTunes's download store. Apple is also readying a streaming service called iTunes Match expected to launch this fall. 
   
   The largest music subscription service, Rhapsody, has about 800,000 paying users after nearly 10 years. The next largest in the United States is believed to be Slacker, which claims some 400,000 subscribers, while more recent start-ups like MOG and Rdio are estimated to have significantly less than that. 
   
   London-based Spotify, which launched in the United States in July, has more than 1 million paying subscribers and some 10 million users registered to its free access service across Europe. Spotify is believed to have partly benefited from its early integration into Facebook's platform. 
   
   The most popular music app on Facebook is currently BandPage, a service from RootMusic that enables artists to market their songs, videos and tour dates. It has over 250,000 artists and 30 million active users monthly. Last month it raised $16 million in Series B funding. 
   
   While all the existing music services can already be used on Facebook, the deeper integration will enable Facebook users who are subscribers to a service to share songs and playlists seamlessly with each other and to see what friends are listening to, and more. 
   
   The digital music services hope Facebook users will sign up with them after seeing friends sharing playlists that require subscription. 
   
   Another senior executive close to the talks said social networking is important to help overcome one of the key challenges for digital music companies: how to help fans discover new music rather than just search for artists and songs they already know. "Your friends are engaging with you on Facebook, he said. "It's the new form of radio or TV." 
   
   Though the prospective business partners have high hopes for Facebook, combining social networking and digital music hasn't always been a guarantee of success. 
   
   In 2008, Myspace -- then still a leading social network -- created a music service in partnership with major labels. It had early traction, but not enough to save Myspace's popularity from collapsing. 
   
   (Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Gary Hill)
target: – Facebook plans to join forces with Spotify, MOG, and Rdio to launch its long-rumored music service later this month, sources tell Mashable. Facebook won’t unveil the project until the Sept. 22 f8 developer conference, but it’s been a poorly kept secret—evidence of it was found hidden in the code for Facebook’s video chat. Unlike Apple, Google, and Amazon, Facebook won’t actually host any music, one source said—it’ll just be a platform for the aforementioned partners. While Mashable reports it's not clear if other music purveyors will be included at launch, one source noted that Facebook doesn’t like to play favorites, and will likely open the music platform to third parties, much as it does with applications and games. To wit, Reuters adds that Rhapsody and Slacker are also involved. Another rumor: that the platform could one day be expanded to stream video as well. Facebook, however, wouldn’t confirm the report, saying, “There’s nothing new to announce.”