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Facebook Messenger is getting an Apple Music extension

Facebook Messenger is getting an Apple Music extension

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F8 keynote
Facebook

Facebook just announced a bunch of changes to Messenger, with the highlight being new ways for apps to integrate with it. And while it’s not available yet, one of the standout partners announced was Apple Music.

Near the end of his presentation at Facebook’s F8 conference this afternoon, David Marcus, head of Messenger, said, “I’m really excited to share with you that Apple Music will soon be on the platform as well.”

Listen without leaving Messenger

There weren’t any details beyond that, and Apple Music only got a “coming soon” label, so there isn’t even a firm ETA on when it’ll be available. But Facebook and Apple have worked together before on music integrations — songs from Apple Music can be embedded in the News Feed — so it isn’t a huge surprise to see this partnership, even from the usually go-it-alone Apple.

From the sound of it, the integration will allow people to browse Apple Music from inside of Messenger, find a song, and send it into their chat. Everyone will then be able to play the song back without leaving Messenger, which is a huge plus over how Facebook’s older integrations work, kicking users out to separate apps. Of course, you’ll almost certainly still need a subscription to hear a full song.

For those who don’t want to wait, Spotify is launching an extension that does all of this right away. Spotify first started working inside Messenger just over a year ago, but it wasn’t a great experience since you had to go out to Spotify to both find and listen to a song.