Gift Music On Facebook – Virtual Gifts Extravaganza
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We recently wrote about Google launching Music Search and I admit, I added that little cliffhanger about Facebook at the end for kicks. The news was out long before. Facebook will also be tying up with Lala.com. Now, Facebook users can gift music to each other.
The Music Industry is drowning. Piracy and Digital Media are ripping out the profits with album sales declining. On the other hand, the virtual goods industry is skyrocketing with a potential of being a $1 billion market.
Facebook announced it’s new and revamped Gift Shop on its blog. Now users can purchase gifts, and the gift shop is expanding.
The list extends to : (from their blog:)
Music Gifts (U.S. only)
You now will be able to purchase songs as gifts for your friends. The “Music and MP3s” section of the Gift Shop, powered by LaLa.com, offers over 8 million songs for any music lover from artists such as Beyonce, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Imogen Heap and even Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Web songs are 1 credit each, while full, downloadable, and digital rights management-free (DRM) MP3s are 9 credits each.
Other Gifts include “Sports Gifts” and “Gifts for Good”
Let’s focus on the music bit.
Once you’ve bought the music track, you can listen to it as frequently as you like from your Facebook News Feed / Wall and also from Lala.com (if you have an account or if you’re signed up via Facebook Connect). You can also download the songs and play them on music players.
Your friends and those who can see your news feed can listen to the song ONCE. After that they’ll be able to only sample the songs (30 seconds)
Facebook’s marketing this not as a music service provider but as gifts. These gifts can be customized with graphics and e-cards. The song costs one Facebook Credit (10 cents). You can then play it as many times from Facebook. If you’d actually like to download the song, you’ll be paying 90 cents.
iTunes charges around a dollar for the same.
I really admire the “gift” aspect of it. Marketing using sentimentality is a powerful force. The songs are also classified by sentiment and occasion.
“It’s totally different and integrated,” said Lala’s co-founder Bill Nguyen. “There are cards around it and it’s really packaged. When someone knows that you’ve paid for it and it’s packaged properly, it has much more emotional value.”
Already, birthday notifications on your event page come with “Give them a Gift”. Make that gift easy to purchase, customize, throw some great sentimentality into the mixture, and that’s one extremely powerful marketing tool.
Virtual Gifts are clearly on the upswing. VentureBeat estimates the US Virtual Goods market Sales to hit $1 billion. Recently, Ning, a service that let’s you make your own social network, also launched Ning Virtual Gifts.
Closer to the home front, Cadbury launched a Happy Diwali App on Facebook, synonymous with their “Kuch Mithas Ho Jaaye” campaign. It allows you to send Cadbury products across. One look at their page and you’ll realise how popular it is based on how many times each gift has been sent.
Facebook might also be considering an independent payment system tie-up and it’s own advertisement network.
The music feature is an awesome sticky feature. A lot of people already spend a lot of time on Facebook. Add music to that, and people will be spending more time on it. Apps, Games, Music, what’s next? A music player where you can upload your own stuff so you can listen to music while playing games. All this ensures more stickiness. Which means more advertising. Check this interview out with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.
Facebook might even be considering it’s own Ad Network powered by Facebook Connect. And to think it all started with Facebook pokes and sending each other beers.
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Sounds too convoluted to work. People waffle on buying music legally when a price is put in front of them. using a “credit” system adds another hurdle. #FAIL