Russia's Yandex.Music has become the country's first music streaming service to enter an integration deal with Facebook, under which users will be able to share excerpts from music tracks with their friends, the company announced.
Under the agreement between Yandex.Music and Facebook, Russian users of the social network will be able to listen to 30-second excerpts from music tracks liked by their friends. They will be subsequently able to listen to the entire tracks on the streaming service's website or in its app for Android or iOS.
By signing the deal with Facebook, Yandex.Music follows in the footsteps of Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Napster, Rhapsody and KKBOX, which all earlier struck similar deals with Facebook.
Currently, Yandex.Music, Russia's largest music streaming service run by the local Internet giant Yandex (commonly referred to as "the Russian Google") has over 35 million tracks in its catalog and attracts a monthly audience of over 20 million users.
Facebook's monthly audience in Russia is about 19 million people, according to research group TNS.
Earlier this year, Yandex.Music added an option allowing users to upload music tracks and share them with friends, but it later introduced restrictions on sharing uploaded music amidst concerns about illegitimate distribution of music.
Users can stream music for free on Yandex.Music's website. The service also offers users a subscription option, which allows them to listen to tracks without ads and to store them on their smartphones.
The subscription costs 1,690 rubles ($29) a year or 169 rubles ($2.92) a month.
