For those of you who don’t know, the trendy thing in music consumption is streaming music services. Think iTunes but instead of paying for and downloading music, you just click on any song and it starts playing. Don’t worry, it’s every bit as awesome as it sounds. The biggest player in the streaming music space is Spotify and it is, for better or worse, changing how we consume music. Like most online services, Spotify has different pricing tiers with different feature sets, however the most interesting part is there there is a free, ad-supported option. It’s been the dream since Napster for a way to get free, legal music. BUT WAIT! The dream is here.
Now, if you were to ask me (which you didn’t but I’m going to tell you anyway) what I think Spotify’s end goal is, I would tell you: Spotify is trying to get bought by Facebook. And why not? Instagram, with 10 million active users, recently sold to Facebook for a billion dollars. Imagine what Spotify could sell for with 8 million more users than Instagram had, plus so much more? I’m going to make a prediction: By this time next year, Spotify will have been acquired by Facebook. Here’s why.
Spotify has been setting themselves up for the last year to be very appealing to Facebook. First, Spotify started requiring new users to register using a Facebook account. No Facebook? No Spotify. Next, Spotify worked directly with Facebook to help launch the music portion of Facebook’s Timeline re-design. This involved having your music seamlessly shared into your Facebook Timeline and having your Facebook friends show up automatically in Spotify. Finally, Spotify launched their app platform, allowing the creation of apps that plug into the Spotify desktop app. Guess what other services uses apps as a major part of their brand platform? Facebook. And let’s not forget, Spotify already has a working ad platform.
Recap, if Facebook bought Spotify, almost all of Spotify’s 18 million users are already plugged in using their Facebook accounts. Users’ Spotify activity is already seamlessly integrated into Facebook. Spotify already has an ad platform, the main way that Facebook makes money. And finally, Spotify already has apps, which are a major part of Facebook’s brand platform.
Facebook wants to stay relevant, and more so wants to be the one-stop-shop for our whole digital existence. Streaming is the future of music and Spotify is the clear front runner. If Facebook wants to keep us in, Spotify is a must for them and they know it. So again I predict: By this time next year, Facebook will have bought Spotify for more than you or I would make in a thousand years.
