Photo Credit: Last.fm
Last.fm is independent again, nearly 20 years after it was acquired by CBS. And it’s still keeping track of your scrobbles across streaming platforms.
Remember Last.fm? It started out as an internet radio station in 2002, but became better known as a music tracking service that lets you keep tabs on what you listen to across platforms and streaming services, including Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music. The company is still keeping at it, and now it’s gone independent once again after saying goodbye to Paramount Skydance.
“Today, Last.fm begins a new chapter as an independent company,” read the announcement on its support forums. “Ownership has changed, but the product you use every day has not.”
Last.fm promises that it will keep its current team, as well as users’ profiles and scrobbles—that is, recorded plays of a song. User data and privacy settings, as well as Pro subscriptions and any billing information, will also be retained.
“We’ll share more about what comes next in the weeks ahead. For now, everything works exactly as it did yesterday,” the post continued. “Same service. Same team. New chapter. Thanks for being part of it.”
So what will change for users? The company said that its freshly unshackled status means it can “focus fully on building listening insights and community features for music fans,” and offering “continued, steady improvements over time.”
They also plan to “continue supporting the ecosystem” around its core offerings, which also means that tools using its API will continue to work and may even see new enhancements in the coming months.
Last.fm was an independent company until it was acquired by CBS Interactive—now part of the merged Paramount Skydance Corporation—for $280 million back in 2007. In 2014, it shuttered its $3 monthly subscription radio service to focus on expanding its scrobbling across more streaming providers.
Currently, DSPs that users can connect to their Last.fm account include Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Tidal, and SoundCloud. It offers a “Pro” subscription service for $4.99 a month, which offers detailed listening insights, customization options, and more.
Folks on Reddit and other social platforms who have used Last.fm for years seem genuinely excited for the news and what’s to come for the platform. Users have expressed that as long as the core offering remains intact, so will their continued memberships and usage.
