BlackBerry Messenger Music is still the odd man out when it comes to the popular music services on smartphones, with its unusual requirement for users to social network with one another to grow the size of their collections. That may make it hard to attract new users, but for ardent RIM fans who already have a large network of BlackBerry Messenger contacts, we can see how the service could be quite appealing. If you already like what RIM’s been doing, you’re going to want to check out the latest BBM Music beta, which adds what sound like a few useful features.

First off, you’ll now be able to mark songs or other users as favorites. Songs marked as favorites will be shared in your profile for other users to see. Favoriting also takes a part in the new shuffle playback modes. The so-called “intelligent shuffle” will let you specify how the app shuffles through your tunes, including by genre, by artist, or if you’ve marked the track as a favorite.

There a nice change coming to how you add contacts, with an invitation request now letting you check out the music library of a friend-of-a-friend before accepting. Since those songs are ones that you’d gain access to, being able to see them in advance should be a big convenience. Other changes in the latest beta include performance tweaks and an improved notification system.

BBM Music 1.2.0.13 is available in the Beta Zone now, ready for users in the US, Canada, and UK.

Source: CrackBerry