Music to the ears of Facebook users?

Facebook wants to make music listening a more social experience.

This morning, it pressed play on a "Listen with" button that lets up to 50 people listen to the same songs simultaneously.

"The way people listen to music now (on Facebook) is alone, but we thought it would be cool to listen at the same time with friends, as you would at a concert or in a car," says Alexandre Roche, a Facebook product designer. "If someone is playing a song you like, you can join in."

The real-time music sharing is initially available to Facebook members who use Spotify and Rdio on the social-networking service.

The idea is when you see a favorite tune in a friend's chat sidebar, you can click on something called "Listen with" and share the music experience.

Conceivably, one friend can become a DJ for others, taking requests via instant-messages.

Facebook's latest feature is being rolled out to its 800 million members.

Real-time music sharing has some intriguing possibilities. If it catches on, might video come next?

For now, Roche and Facebook had no comment.

UPDATE: The move is the next step in Facebook's music stategy that kicked off in September, when Facebook struck up deals with content partners ranging from online-music services such as Spotify, MOG and Rdio to establish itself in a fragmented market with no clear leader.

Facebook's new offering is drawing comparisons with Turntable.fm, a similar service.