After reports came out that Facebook is having its own music streaming service, music website Billboard reported that the social media platform has no plans for this rumored feature.
In a statement, Facebook reportedly told Billboard that it has "no plans to go into music streaming." The report also cited a source from a major label saying that they have had "no discussions about an on-demand streaming service," and that they were surprised of the previous reports and rumors.
So how did the speculations start?
Website Music Ally had some sources saying that Facebook's music streaming service, which was reportedly being planned, will be "an important stepping stone towards the on-demand audio service."
By far, the world is currently enjoying music streaming in many platforms such as Spotfy, Rdio, Tidal and the recently launched Apple Music.
According to Music Ally, the first phase of the plan will have Facebook's music streaming service paying royalties to music rightsholders whenever their music videos will be played, as well as a system that will let these holders identify user-uploaded videos that infringe on copyright.
The report even went further by saying that Facebook's music stream service is already at the advanced stage of the discussion and that a rollout is expected in the next months.
Social media went abuzz after this rumor went out and the reactions were mostly negative.
For freelance designer Dennys Hess, enough music streaming platforms is enough. He wrote, "Don't we have already enough music streaming service? Facebook wanna make one too?"
"If Facebook does get into the music streaming business, it won't be for a long while," the Billboard report pointed out. "Take Apple as an example - that company bought a fully functional streaming service a year-and-a-half ago, and just launched it last week. Besides, nobody rushes Mark."
Did Facebook close their doors on a music streaming service because of the relatively little profits from this?
Taking Spotify as an example, which reportedly now has 60 million listeners, a website said that the music streaming service "has not collected a profit in three years."
The report said it lost $197 million in 2014, increasing over the year before but they noted that Spotify earned $1.3 billion in revenue last year.
Facebook's recent acquisitions speak a lot on where it is headed. The company reportedly paid $19 billion for messaging app WhatsApp, $2 billion for virtual reality Oculus, and $1 billion for Instagram.
Whether a Facebook music streaming service is underway or not, a gamble seemed not worth it.
