Facebook integrates Listen button for artists, bands and musicians

Facebook has added a new button to pages belonging to artists, bands and musicians. The Listen button allows users to play a selection of music from a band or musician while visiting their page using one of several streaming apps for Timeline.

The Listen button requires that users have at least one of the music streaming apps already installed on their computer. If one doesn’t have an app, they will be prompted to install one from a list that includes Spotify, MOG, Rdio, Slacker Radio and Deezer, just to name a few. Since the music is part of a Timeline app, an update will be posted to your Timeline about your activity unless otherwise specified in the streaming app. The feature currently only works on desktops; mobile users are out of luck for now.

As was the case with the Spotify Play Button that I tested last week, clicking the Listen button on Facebook opened my Spotify desktop client but nothing happened after that. Seeing as this is the second time the app has behaved this way, I suspect it’s an issue or setting with Spotify. I have reached out to them for assistance with this matter and will update this story accordingly.

Many are saying that this could be the “straw that breaks the camel’s back” as far as MySpace is concerned. Once the king of social media, the site was purchased by Specific Media and pop star Justin Timberlake in June 2011 and repurposed as a hub for posting and listening to music. With Facebook now offering music directly on artists’ pages, is there much of a reason for anyone to visit MySpace anymore?