14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook is making music listening more social, again, with the introduction of the "Listen with Me" button. As the name suggests, it enables users to listen along with their friends, the same song will be streamed at the same time for all that join the ad-hoc DJ party.
Facebook is able to offer this thanks to its deep integration with music services. Needless to say, you need an account for the music streaming service your friend is using if you want to sing along.
"Today, with music services on Facebook, there's a new way to listen with friends. This feature lets you listen along with any of your friends who are currently listening to music. You can also listen together in a group while one of your friends plays DJ," Facebook product manager Alexandre Roche wrote.
"You can listen to the same song, at the exact same time—so when your favorite vocal part comes in you can experience it together, just like when you're jamming out at a performance or dance club," he explained.
The feature is being rolled out at this time. Once it's available for you, you'll notice a music note icon in the chat friends list next to the people who are listening to music via one of the Facebook-approved music streaming services, Spotify, Mog, Rdio and so on.
If you click on the icon, you'll be directed to the app your friend is using and, assuming you have an account as well, the song will start playing from the same place your friend is at and will continue to play in sync. Users can also join a chat with everyone else that is listening in.
The move is a natural progression for Facebook, it's surprising that it took so long for the social network to implement such a feature. Facebook is also moving in on the territory of Turntable.fm and all of the other collective listening services that have popped up recently.