Last.fm Goes Independent After Breaking Up With Paramount Skydance (engadget.com) 9
Last.fm announced that it is independent again after separating from Paramount Skydance, nearly two decades after CBS acquired the music-tracking service in 2007. The company says accounts, scrobbles, privacy settings, Pro subscriptions, and billing information will remain intact. Additional details are forthcoming. Engadget reports: "Today, Last.fm begins a new chapter as an independent company," the announcement reads. "Ownership has changed, but the product you use every day has not." It also said that it will keep its current team. Last.fm is a music website that can track what you listen to across platforms, apps and streaming services, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music.Â
[...] Last.fm started as an internet radio station in 2002, and it didn't get scrobbling until a few years later when it merged with the original team that created the tracking process. It operated as an independent company until it was acquired by CBS Interactive, which is now part of the merged Paramount Skydance Corporation, for $280 million in 2007. In 2014, it killed off its $3-a-month subscription radio service to focus on tracking your listening habits on other providers. The company promised to share more about what you can expect from the transition in the coming weeks, but everything will work on Last.fm "exactly as it did yesterday" for now.
[...] Last.fm started as an internet radio station in 2002, and it didn't get scrobbling until a few years later when it merged with the original team that created the tracking process. It operated as an independent company until it was acquired by CBS Interactive, which is now part of the merged Paramount Skydance Corporation, for $280 million in 2007. In 2014, it killed off its $3-a-month subscription radio service to focus on tracking your listening habits on other providers. The company promised to share more about what you can expect from the transition in the coming weeks, but everything will work on Last.fm "exactly as it did yesterday" for now.
that still exists? (Score:2)
so TIL that still exists.
I still don't know why it exists, but ok.
Re:that still exists? (Score:4, Insightful)
I ditched 'em years back, probably when they got acquired, so just took a look to see what they were about. They've accepted that Spotify et al. are really where it's at, and now all they seem to do is track what you listen to on those platforms and then offer suggestions.
I suppose if you're listening to multiple platforms, then having all that history consolidated in one place could be useful, but otherwise, I wonder how their recommendations are going to be any better than Spotify's?
Back in the day, last.fm was pretty awesome though. I found a load of new music through listening to them, which back then resulted in me actually buying physical media. I suppose now, even if they found me something new, the best they/the industry could hope for would be that I bookmarked it or something for a couple of plays later on.
Never used the radio function (Score:2)
"Track what you listen to" was the original purpose of the site, back when it was called Audioscrobbler, prior to the name change.
ca. 2009, a huge draw was the API they provided to access your listening data. There was a whole ecosystem of sites that popped up to generate charts, graphs, tag clouds, and all kind of other ways to visualize your data. So of course it couldn't last, and the API was scrapped after a few years. (Did they ever replace it, I wonder?)
I was a heavy, daily user of the site for 15 yea
Old internet properties keep getting "revived" (Score:2)
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Last FM != Soma FM (Score:4, Informative)
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Groove Salad is great. Listening to it now and then when in the mood. Still going strong on Soma.fm
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I forgot about Soma FM! I don't see the point of Last FM. That reminds me I need to send my bandcamp albums to Soma FM.
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I have been using last.fm since 2008. I mainly use it to track/chart my listening habits. It is great for those who like statistics, see which bands you listen to most and when, trends in your plays. It is also handy to easily find bands you listen to who are in town, connect with people who have similar listening habits and just chat about music. Pretty much a Facebook for bands/artists, when Facebook was about connecting people (pre-like, wall, and corporations using it).
Soma.FM was great back in the