Watch out Spotify, Facebook are planning on launching a music streaming service

Watch out Spotify.

In the next step on their way to global domination, Facebook are reportedly planning on launching a music streaming service to challenge the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. According to musically.com, Facebook are preparing the groundwork for the launch of official videos on the social networking site over the next few months, which would be the first stage in their plans to muscle in on the music market. Sources have told musically.com that Facebook would operate with music artists in a similar way to YouTube, affording them a system of registering their content to prevent piracy and paying royalties to the rights-holders at a similar rate that YouTube currently does. Following that, plans are reportedly afoot to launch a streaming service to rival Spotify and Apple Music, the latter of which earned criticism from Taylor Swift for their original decision not to pay royalties to artists during a three-month free trial period, a decision they subsequently backtracked on afterwards. A music streaming service on Facebook does seem a while away yet and it could yet be the case that they could buy a music streaming service rather than build their own, given their purchases of WhatsApp and Oculus VR in the recent past. In any case, it seems like there's enough in there for Spotify and Apple Music to be getting a little bit uncomfortable. Be afraid lads, be very afraid. Hat-tip to Business Insider