Facebook Messenger has added another feather to its cap by adding integration for Spotify within the app itself. Musically-inclined users of both can now freely share songs or playlists they’re listening to with their friends without having to take too much pains.
While there’s no mechanism in place to allow people to listen to the music within Facebook Messenger, the new addition is still a pretty nifty tool and will probably serve to raise Spotify’s profile. To start exchanging songs, users have to tap on the ‘…’ more option within the chat window and choose Spotify.
They’ll get redirected to the Spotify app and be asked to search for an artist, song or playlist to share. Once they choose one, it’ll pop up in the conversation automatically. An ‘Open’ button at the bottom of the posted artwork actually lets people listen to the music in Spotify and there’s also a share option on the side of the image to further spread it to other platforms.
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Spotify has long since had its own sharing option for connecting to Facebook Messenger, so this two-way integration is a welcome step forward. It would be useful if the latter could find some way to let users listen to songs directly within the application instead of making them shuttle between the two services.
Facebook has been aggressively adding more third-party tools to Messenger for a while now, with its addition of Uber grabbing a lot of headlines. Spotify marks the first time it’s decided to go in a more musical direction. The move is also in line with its recent efforts to keep people within the walls of its platform through new offerings like its Canvas Ads and Instant Articles.
Spotify integration is available for only Android and iOS users of Facebook Messenger as of now. You can download the app via iTunes or the Google Play Store.