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Facebook F8 lineup includes Spotify, Zynga, Turntable.fm

The speakers at Facebook's developers conference offer another hint of what to expect. Major announcements could possibly include a complete rewrite of the Facebook platform that developers can use to build new social apps.

Rafe Needleman Former Editor at Large
Rafe Needleman reviews mobile apps and products for fun, and picks startups apart when he gets bored. He has evaluated thousands of new companies, most of which have since gone out of business.
Rafe Needleman
2 min read

Facebook today released the lineup of speakers for Thursday's F8 developer conference. Early indications are that there will be major announcements at the conference, including a new platform for media companies to connect to the social graph, and possibly a complete rewrite of the Facebook platform that developers can use to build new social apps.

The speaker lineup reinforces this. After CEO Mark Zuckerberg's keynote address at 10 a.m. Pacific, four "Transforming Industries" breakout sessions will highlight different aspects that Facebook wants developers to focus on.

The "Future of Digital Music" session will including Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, reinforcing the expectation that Spotify will have a new and tight integration into the Facebook platform. Clear Channel Chairman Bob Pittman and Atom Factory's Troy Carter are also in this session. These last two speakers represent companies with deep relationships with musicians, indicating we can also expect Facebook will be providing ways to tap into the music royalty stream.

The "Mobile + Social" session has both games and music companies on it: Zynga Vice President Paul Bettner and Playfish General Manager Kristian Segerstrale are speaking, as well as Turntable.fm CEO Billy Chasen. (Turntable recently launched its mobile app.) Foodspotting CEO Alexa Andrzejewski is also in this session.

A "Social Gaming" panel includes Zynga's Chief Business Officer, Owen Van Natta, and Disney Interactive Co-President John Pleasants, as well as speakers from EA and Kabam.

Finally, those wanting to know where the money is going might want to sit in on the "Investing in Social" session with venture capitalists David Sze, Matt Cohler, Bing Gordon, and Kevin Efrusy.

CNET will be live-blogging commentary from Zuckerberg's keynote speech at the F8 conference, to accompany Facebook's own live stream of the talk.