Snapchat's chief executive Evan Spiegel has said that the possibility of adding more music features to the app represents "a really interesting opportunity" for the company.

Speaking at the University of Southern California he said: "Music is really appealing to us right now because it has some of the same attributes that communication had when we were working on Snapchat in the beginning."

The app's primary function is to share photos and videos with friends that disappear after they are viewed. Reports last week suggested that the company could already be worth as much as $16bn.

The Warner Music Group signed up as one of the app's launch partners for its Snapchat Discover feature. Madonna debuted a music video on the app - and Snapchat has launched a feature that allows people to use the music playing as they record their videos as the soundtrack to their snap.

Mr Spiegel adds: "Right now on your mobile phone, music is largely non-differentiated, so you usually search for a song and you can play it. It plays from four of five different places, they roughly cost the same, but it’s also high frequency."

Snapchat held talks with music video service Vevo about becoming a partner in the Snapchat Discover feature - but negotiations broke down after the companies failed to reach an agreement on how to split advertising revenues.