Facebook iOS App Will Play Spotify, Apple Music Clips In News Feed

Facebook is rolling out a new update for its iOS app that introduces a feature allowing users to hear clips of music right from the social network's News Feed. Anytime a link to a song or album from Spotify, Apple Music, or iTunes is shared, it will automatically formatted into a post that plays a 30-second preview of the music. The feature is actually part of a new post format, called Music Stories, that is being introduced solely on the iOS Facebook app.

The posts pull in a sample of the music and display it in a rich media format, complete with artwork and a spinning record animation. The music is played right in the Facebook app, and once the 30-second preview is over, buttons will be displayed to either purchase or stream the song/album from the music service it was linked from.

Users can hear the clips without having either Spotify or Apple Music installed on their iPhone, or be subscribed to either service. To share a song to Facebook, users just need to have copied it URL to the clipboard — in Apple Music, just tap Copy from the Share menu — then paste it into a new post in the Facebook app in order to create a Music Story.

Facebook says it will be adding support for more music services in Music Story posts in the future. There's no word on when Music Stories might be coming to the web or Android app, but in the meantime it will certainly be easier for iPhone users to preview the music shared in their News Feed without having to switch apps.

SOURCE Facebook