Facebook is expanding its partnership with Spotify to create a mechanism for listening to full songs within the social network, which recently has been turning its attention to audio offerings.

Starting Monday in 27 markets including the United States, paying Spotify subscribers will be able to listen to audio content -- including full music tracks and podcasts -- on Facebook, using a miniplayer to allow continued scrolling within the networking app.

Facebook called the move a "natural next step" in its relationship with Spotify. In 2019 the companies made a deal to allow short music clips from Spotify to be posted on Facebook Stories.

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The announcement came a week after Facebook said it was adding podcasts and "live audio rooms" as it faces competition from the fast-growing audio-based app Clubhouse.

More than 170 million people are connected to Facebook pages centered on podcasts, and some 35 million users are members of podcast fan groups, but before now listening to one required leaving the social network.

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Facebook also planned to begin testing Live Audio Rooms and expects the feature to be available to all users by the middle of this year.

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