Facebook is planning to take on
YouTube in the U.S. next month by launching officially licensed videos on the platform, according to TechCrunch.
The report is based on materials sent by Facebook to
Page owners linked to artists, informing them that they will need to toggle on a new setting to add their music videos to their pages ahead of an August 1 deadline.
The message warns artists
that if they don’t meet that deadline, Facebook will automatically create a page of their videos.
A partial screenshot of the email to artists (above) leaked to Twitter and was amplified
by social media consultant Matt Navarra, TechCrunch reports.
Other sites, including Targetpip, had previously noted Facebook’s intention to launch music videos.
Currently, due to licensing rights limitations, music artists under major U.S. labels can only share previews of music videos on Facebook, not full videos.
Facebook’s prior deals with
labels focused on “the right to use licensed music in ‘social experiences’ across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Oculus,” to enable users “to post personal videos
with licensed music in the background without having their videos taken down,” explains the report.
Facebook, which declined to comment on the report, already offers a music experience
in Thailand and India.