How Many Facebook Credits Is Your Song Worth?
This is a question you should familiarize yourself with.
On July 1st, Facebook is introducing its Facebook Credits virtual currency. First, the company will make it the main payment system for all apps, taking a 30 percent cut of transactions. Soon thereafter, Facebook could also use this payment system as the preferred system for buying goods, concert tickets, or songs.
At first, they intend to streamline the process of buying things within games on Facebook, but one day they could also roll Facebook Credits out to Pages too.
While there are currently applications that create virtual stores in Facebook, they require users to enter their information if they want to purchase something.
Now a fan's information will preloaded into Facebook and they'll take a cut.
It's one of those situations where if Facebook does decide to make it so users can buy digital music using Facebook Credits, artists will have to make their songs available in that fashion. This could also mean that once a song app goes viral in Facebook and everyone is playing an artist's music, each fan is now just one click away from buying the song or album if Facebook has their information.
While many of the current monetization solutions like RootMusic and MoonToast offer artists ways to sell their music on Facebook, the day could come when it's within their interest to make Fan Page transactions go through Facebook Credits.
Most of this is speculation, but let's face it, Facebook can do about whatever it wants. And if they want songs to be bought with Facebook Credits, it will happen.
Great post Kyle!
I hope Facebook can smooth out all it’s privacy issues first.
facebook credits have been around for quite some time already. you’ve been able to purchase facebook credit giftcards at stores like target and 7-11 for well over 8 months.
how’s that rock you’ve been living under?
thought it had been around for a while, always thought this could be pretty huge in the digital space and potentially a big problem for govt, currency markets,
ie. 500 million users start converting $’s for FB digits and trading in ‘Credits’ it could become a powerful international currency even if not recognised.
Thanks for your thoughtful criticism. If you clicked the last link, you would understand that this is the official roll-out, not the beta trial. I know that they came out with this last year. Also, back then, they didn't require game developers to use Facebook Credits and now they are. That's why this is news.
Oh my how funny. Remember Disney Dollars or whatever they were called? Now Facebook is becoming a bank. Facebook is seemingly slowly becoming a 2nd reality to the rest of the web. It’s like the former Eastern block. Just like them, Facebook is spying on its inhabitants even when they surf off-site. And just like the Eastern block, Facebook has got a wall through which no one can see from the outside, kind of like a Berlin wall. Compared to Facebook, google, myspace, twitter, in fact all independent websites are the free West.
It would be cool if Facebook did this for music. But I could see a lot of problems coming into play as well like copyright issues and spaming. Facebook would become the new Myspace.
Tye Banks
http://www.TyeBanks.com
Very interesting, have you heard the new Social Media Training news about the ‘Buy with Friends’ with Facebook credits? Follow the link and let me know what you think?