4 ms·

The service will include a function that lets Facebook users listen to music simultaneously with their friends over the social network, one of the sources said.

The service will include a function that lets Facebook users listen to music simultaneously with their friends over the social network, one of the sources said. Why? Maybe this function will be an interesting experiment, but I just don't see it working out. Honestly, does anybody really care if their friend is listening to the same song (in a different geographic location) simultaneously? Where's the value added? What does anybody gain from this? Maybe social has a place in music, but this isn't it. Edit: I'm not disputing the fact that bonding doesn't happen over music (clearly it does, as anybody who has ever listened to a song with another person would know), but I fail to see the purpose of simultaneous listening across the world.

wccrawford 15y ago
Actually, my friend (in Norway) and I (in the USA) often listen to the same song at the same time because we want to share it with each other. Most of the time that isn't happening, but when we want to, it'd be nice to have something to help with that. Not that it's a huge hassle to hit 'play' on whatever youtube video he sends. The 10-20 seconds of lag aren't really that important.
JonnieCache 15y ago
Many of my friendships involve a lot of bonding over music, as I'm sure do many other peoples'. If I were to suddenly become geographically distant to them, if I moved away to another country or whatever, I would imagine that being able to listen to music in sync with them in that way would be a pretty powerful thing. I'd definitely do it a lot. Think of it like talking on a webcam with your relatives back home, but with less talking and more shockin' out. >but I fail to see the purpose of simultaneous listening across the world. It's just the simple pleasure of knowing that over the other side of the world, your friend, who presumably responds to the music in the same or a similar way to you, is currently having that same response at the same time. This knowledge could reinforce the sensation of a shared experience, especially if you're recreating a shared listening experience from the past where you were physically together. Obviously it doesn't really matter because you have no way of knowing what the other person is actually doing at that time unless you have some other out of band communication, a webcam or whatever. You would have the same sense of shared experience if spotify only told you it was syncing but actually didn't, how could you know? However, we are talking about emotional phenomena here and as such these logical stipulations don't really hit home. EDIT: Also using it to synchronise two entire parties would be fun.
peterb 15y ago
I think this is interesting from a DJ or live mix-tape perspective. I have several friends who's taste in music I like. I would love it if they set aside an hour of "dj'ing" live. It is also interesting during a "chat" session.
- yid 15y ago
  Why not set up a Shoutcast server and stream through any respectable audio player? A quick Goog brings up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHOUTcast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHOUTcast http://www.serverroom.us/shoutcast http://www.serverroom.us/shoutcast
  - ugh 15y ago
    Ease of use, ease of use, ease of use.
    - JonnieCache 15y ago
      Also: the spontaneous, unplanned usage patterns that this ease of use enables.
rl41 15y ago
Listening along with a friend who appreciates music as much as you do is great. Sometimes you don't have the liberty of be with them physically, so facebook is ready to provide the next best thing.
ugh 15y ago
There is not much detail there about how the feature will actually be implemented but here are two scenarios: You see that a friend with a similar taste in music to you listens to song you don’t know so you click to listen in. That would be useful. This integration also could allow your friends to play music for you. (“Hey, listen to this cool song I discovered!”) I find myself sharing links to songs (mostly some video on some video platform) all the time when chatting with friends, so maybe this will be an easier way to do that. Whether or not this is actually useful depends in my opinion mostly on the UI and how easy to use it is. If it is more tedious than googling for the song and listening to it that way it won’t work.
- udp 15y ago
  Spotify already does all of this (with Facebook integration, too). The new feature is supposed to be synchronisation (listening to a song at the same time as your friend).
r00fus 15y ago
Just going to echo the chorus responding to you: It's a way of sharing context. When you ride with someone in their car, if music is being played it's being shared. Same with when you are with someone at a restaurant/bar. Imagine a chat session with someone where you're listening to the same soundtrack (chosen by participant(s)). Potential for epic interactions.
smackfu 15y ago
Combine it with realtime chat, and you can be like "that part was awesome!"
mbesto 15y ago
Last.fm does this with their radio. I like to find new music from my friend in Germany (I'm UK based) and will find new good music from time to time. Haven't you ever been in your friends car and heard a song on their CD and been like "wow that song is great, I wanna get it!" - same concept. Music is so ineptly social.
- hollerith 15y ago
  You mean, "inherently social."

wccrawford 15y ago

Actually, my friend (in Norway) and I (in the USA) often listen to the same song at the same time because we want to share it with each other. Most of the time that isn't happening, but when we want to, it'd be nice to have something to help with that. Not that it's a huge hassle to hit 'play' on whatever youtube video he sends. The 10-20 seconds of lag aren't really that important.

JonnieCache 15y ago

Many of my friendships involve a lot of bonding over music, as I'm sure do many other peoples'. If I were to suddenly become geographically distant to them, if I moved away to another country or whatever, I would imagine that being able to listen to music in sync with them in that way would be a pretty powerful thing. I'd definitely do it a lot. Think of it like talking on a webcam with your relatives back home, but with less talking and more shockin' out. >but I fail to see the purpose of simultaneous listening across the world. It's just the simple pleasure of knowing that over the other side of the world, your friend, who presumably responds to the music in the same or a similar way to you, is currently having that same response at the same time. This knowledge could reinforce the sensation of a shared experience, especially if you're recreating a shared listening experience from the past where you were physically together. Obviously it doesn't really matter because you have no way of knowing what the other person is actually doing at that time unless you have some other out of band communication, a webcam or whatever. You would have the same sense of shared experience if spotify only told you it was syncing but actually didn't, how could you know? However, we are talking about emotional phenomena here and as such these logical stipulations don't really hit home. EDIT: Also using it to synchronise two entire parties would be fun.

peterb 15y ago

I think this is interesting from a DJ or live mix-tape perspective. I have several friends who's taste in music I like. I would love it if they set aside an hour of "dj'ing" live. It is also interesting during a "chat" session.

yid 15y ago
Why not set up a Shoutcast server and stream through any respectable audio player? A quick Goog brings up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHOUTcast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHOUTcast http://www.serverroom.us/shoutcast http://www.serverroom.us/shoutcast
- ugh 15y ago
  Ease of use, ease of use, ease of use.
  - JonnieCache 15y ago
    Also: the spontaneous, unplanned usage patterns that this ease of use enables.

rl41 15y ago

Listening along with a friend who appreciates music as much as you do is great. Sometimes you don't have the liberty of be with them physically, so facebook is ready to provide the next best thing.

ugh 15y ago

There is not much detail there about how the feature will actually be implemented but here are two scenarios: You see that a friend with a similar taste in music to you listens to song you don’t know so you click to listen in. That would be useful. This integration also could allow your friends to play music for you. (“Hey, listen to this cool song I discovered!”) I find myself sharing links to songs (mostly some video on some video platform) all the time when chatting with friends, so maybe this will be an easier way to do that. Whether or not this is actually useful depends in my opinion mostly on the UI and how easy to use it is. If it is more tedious than googling for the song and listening to it that way it won’t work.

udp 15y ago
Spotify already does all of this (with Facebook integration, too). The new feature is supposed to be synchronisation (listening to a song at the same time as your friend).

r00fus 15y ago

Just going to echo the chorus responding to you: It's a way of sharing context. When you ride with someone in their car, if music is being played it's being shared. Same with when you are with someone at a restaurant/bar. Imagine a chat session with someone where you're listening to the same soundtrack (chosen by participant(s)). Potential for epic interactions.

smackfu 15y ago

Combine it with realtime chat, and you can be like "that part was awesome!"

mbesto 15y ago

Last.fm does this with their radio. I like to find new music from my friend in Germany (I'm UK based) and will find new good music from time to time. Haven't you ever been in your friends car and heard a song on their CD and been like "wow that song is great, I wanna get it!" - same concept. Music is so ineptly social.

hollerith 15y ago
You mean, "inherently social."