Loading
-
Now, Pay to Listen Last.fm Radio
Techtree News Staff, Mar 26, 2009 1648 hrs ISTOnly free for listeners in UK, US, and Germany
The UK-based online music and radio community website Last.fm is changing the rules of its business. Last.fm will start charging listeners outside the UK, US, and Germany.
Listening to Last.fm Radio will soon require a subscription of 3 euros per month but you will also get a 30 track free trial. But like before, other content on Last.fm such as, recommendations, charts, biographies, events, videos, scrobbling (user built musical profile) will remain free in all the countries.
But why this differential treatment to 'the rest of the world'? According to Last.fm's Matthew Ogle in the official blog, "This was a business decision. But after looking at our resources and opportunities we think it's the best way to keep improving Last.fm radio (and also support all the other free services on Last.fm)."
He further adds, the company is focused on the US, UK, and Germany as key markets and so we've made the decision to focus on these markets for free streaming radio. We are still available worldwide and while listening is subscription, all the other rich content on the site is still free.
The company is planning to switch to subscription radio outside the US, UK, and Germany on March 30 but the regular Last.fm listeners are not happy with this move. "I'm done with Last.fm radio then", says Cooperaa.
Related Links
Opinion Poll
- Which desktop web browser do you use?
-
Internet Explorer
Firefox
Chrome
Safari
Opera
Other (specify in comments)
Poll Results View Previous Polls