The tipsters hint that the would-be deal is as much about expediency as it is the freedom to post what you like. Facebook has supposedly vowed to implement a system that flags music which violates copyright, but it could take up to two years to finish. A licensing deal would at least buy some time -- videos would stay up and labels would stay happy.

There's no guarantee that Facebook will clinch the agreement it wants, provided the rumor is accurate. However, it has a strong incentive to license tunes. The company is investing heavily in video, and that doesn't just mean the professionally-made shows in its Watch section. The more videos you can watch on Facebook, the more likely it is that you stick around (and please advertisers) instead of wandering to YouTube.