I first discovered Spotify on Facebook about five years ago – there was some sort of promotion or link – and now it seems appropriate that Spotify forged a tighter partnership with Messenger by allowing music listeners users to more easily share music through Messenger.
I think that this helps both brands in significant ways. Facebook is out to make Messenger a platform unto itself, complete with payment functionality, Uber-summoning, and customer service. Music sharing seems like another great feature to offer. And Spotify, which now competes with Apple Music, is probably thankful that Facebook is looking to build a platform of its own, to reduce its reliance on OS makers. As I wrote:
Although it [Facebook] can’t own the device ecosystem, it’s slowly sliding a blue, chat-bubble shaped horse into Apple and Google’s camp.
Facebook, to its credit, is putting an enormous amount of weight on Messenger, Whatsapp, and Instagram. In recent months it’s added all sorts of applications to Messenger, removed Whatsapp’s yearly fee, and streamlined Instagram’s video ads. It’s certainly Facebook’s world, and we just live in it.