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Old 03-25-2009, 07:36 AM   #1
fredr123
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At least in Canada anyway. Yesterday, last.fm announced on its blog that only users in the USA, the UK and Germany will continue to enjoy free access to the service. Everyone else will require a €3.00 per month subscription.

http://blog.last.fm/2009/03/24/lastf...o-announcement

Sounds like a licensing issue with labels and artists. I wasn't an avid user of the site but these kinds of developments are disappointing to me nonetheless.

What do you think?
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Old 03-25-2009, 08:41 AM   #2
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And Last.fm just ceased to exist.
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Old 03-25-2009, 08:45 AM   #3
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I mostly use last.fm to scrobble my music that I listen to at home. BUT I really like to put on the radio from time to time. 3 Euro's a month is nothing. I'll subscribe.
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Old 03-25-2009, 09:00 AM   #4
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The radio in Calgary sucks. We finally have a couple of alternatives to the Country and Classic Rock mainstays, but they're still not great. Not enough new music. There's only so much Red Hot Chili Peppers that you can listen to in one day.
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Old 03-25-2009, 11:57 AM   #5
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Losers.

Just use Hotspot Shield and listen to Pandora, which is 10x the online music site.
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Old 03-25-2009, 12:02 PM   #6
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Losers.

Just use Hotspot Shield and listen to Pandora, which is 10x the online music site.
I only moved to last.fm when Pandora started blocking Canadian IPs. Friggin' annoying.

Hotspot Shield, at least in my experience with Hulu, is really slow and cumbersome. Almost to the point that browsing is unusable.
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Old 03-25-2009, 12:31 PM   #7
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I only moved to last.fm when Pandora started blocking Canadian IPs. Friggin' annoying.

Hotspot Shield, at least in my experience with Hulu, is really slow and cumbersome. Almost to the point that browsing is unusable.
Yeah, that certainly is a problem.

Pandora is trying to get into Canada. But, they have no idea when that will happen.
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Old 03-25-2009, 12:33 PM   #8
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Definitely not a licencing issue:

Quote:
Originally Posted by MatthewOgle
These are the countries in which we have the most resources to support an ad sales organization, which is how we earn money to pay artists and labels for their music. We are focused on the US, UK, and Germany as key markets, with the help of the CBS Interactive salesforce and our own sales team here in London. Our headquarters are in the UK and we’ve always had a strong presence in DE.
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.
So basically - unless i'm missing something - we'll be paying so that people in these countries can continue to listen for free. Which sucks, because I've been listening every day for a couple years now...now I'll have to go elsewhere.

See ya later, last.fm.
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Old 03-25-2009, 12:54 PM   #9
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Definitely not a licencing issue:



So basically - unless i'm missing something - we'll be paying so that people in these countries can continue to listen for free. Which sucks, because I've been listening every day for a couple years now...now I'll have to go elsewhere.

See ya later, last.fm.
I read that as the UK, USA and Germany are the only markets large enough to make an ad-supported strategy pay off. They don't make enough off of ads in places like Canada to cover the costs of paying the requisite fees to labels and artists. If anything, it sounds like the revenue USA, UK and Germany may have been supporting Canadian listeners...
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Old 03-25-2009, 01:07 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by fredr123 View Post
I read that as the UK, USA and Germany are the only markets large enough to make an ad-supported strategy pay off. They don't make enough off of ads in places like Canada to cover the costs of paying the requisite fees to labels and artists. If anything, it sounds like the revenue USA, UK and Germany may have been supporting Canadian listeners...
That makes sense, I guess. I think it's a bad decision, though, allowing people in three countries to continue to listen for free while everyone else has to pay fo rthe same service. Good business or not, that doesn't sit well with me. But hey, if it helps their business, more power to them.

It just means we'll have to look elsewhere. I've become an avid listener of many artists thanks solely to the service last.fm provides. It provides exposure to a lot of bands I would have otherwise not heard of. I'm not sure I'm in a financial position comfortable enough to be dishing out $6 a month for it.

And how do artists from countries other than US, UK, and Germany feel? Now they know that they're less likely to gain support in their home countries through last.fm listeners. Much less likely.

I think this is bad news for everyone. Last.fm, artists, and fans alike.
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Old 03-25-2009, 01:56 PM   #11
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There goes last.fm on my computer...

I just like getting recommendations based on what I listen to. Don't have to do anything like with Pandora, all I have to do is listen to my music and check every once and awhile.

I like looking at the charts every once and awhile too cause it's just interesting to look at.

Damn!

Edit: Nevermind read the article...just for the radio. I never use the radio, I'm sure I should but I never do...so no worries.
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Old 03-25-2009, 03:03 PM   #12
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Guys.. it's $36 a year. That's TINY for a streaming radio option.

If you have an iPhone you can use it as a radio option, and it's pretty damn good IMO. $36 a year!! COME ON! Are we really so cheap?
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Old 03-25-2009, 03:14 PM   #13
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Guys.. it's $36 a year. That's TINY for a streaming radio option.

If you have an iPhone you can use it as a radio option, and it's pretty damn good IMO. $36 a year!! COME ON! Are we really so cheap?
I, for one, sure am. (and it's €36 per year, which is probably a bit more than $36 CDN)

If I started to pay the $3+ per month for all the services and things that I enjoyed when they used to be free... well, it would add up quickly. I'm not in the camp that enjoyed last.fm enough to pay to use it. It was nice when it was free but if there is a dollar value attached to its use, then it is no longer something I am going to use. I'm sure there theories in economics that describes this.

Same thing, for me, goes with podcasts (Ricky Gervais I"m looking at you), online video games (cough, Blizzard, cough) and news (ESPNInsider, please raise your hand).
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Old 03-25-2009, 03:26 PM   #14
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Same thing, for me, goes with podcasts (Ricky Gervais I"m looking at you), online video games (cough, Blizzard, cough) and news (ESPNInsider, please raise your hand).
Yep, the day Eklund starts charging for sharing his sources and insider info is the day I stop visiting his site.
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