iLike Offers Free Full Track Streaming and Announces New Ad Platform

iLike, the music discovery service with a number of popular applications across social networks, has announced that it will now offer full track streaming through a partnership with Rhapsody. That means that users of iLike’s applications on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and hi5 will now be able to listen to complete tracks, as opposed to the 30 second samples offered previously. Users can listen to up to 25 free tracks per month, at which point they can either subscribe to Rhapsody or will be reverted back to the samples.

The deal also has an interesting business model for artists – they earn revenue each time their music is played. Hadi Partovi, President of iLike, told me in a conversation last week that “in the past, music social networks have been a promotional vehicle [for artists], but now it’s also a way to help fund the music industry through our deal with Rhapsody.” Competitor Last.fm rolled out a similar program earlier this month, dubbed the Artist Royalty Program.

Full article: mashable.com