Last.fm Radio Will Go Premium for Mobile and Home Entertainment Devices
Bad news for Last.fm fans who listen to Last.FM radio on their mobile phones or home entertainment devices, and especially bad news for the fans who do not like to part with their hard earned money. Come the middle of the month, Last.fm will no longer serve free internet radio to your mobile phone or home entertainment device. Starting with the 15th of the month, you will have to pay for the service.
Vice President, Product at Last FM, Matthew Hawn, announced that on February 15, the radio service built into Last.fm mobile apps and on home entertainment devices will become a subscriber-only feature, as opposed to the ad-supported version it is right now. Last.fm radio will remain free, but not only on the US, UK and Germany Last.fm website – also for Xbox Live and Windows Mobile 7 users in the US and UK.
Free radio will be offered via the Last.fm desktop app as usual.
Hawn explained that an ad-supported, free-to-listeners business model works in the US, UK and Germany, it doesn’t work on other markets. It is for that reason that Last.fm Radio will no longer be ad-supported outside the US, UK and Germany on mobile and home entertainment devices – it will be an ad-free, subscription-based service instead - “the highest quality, lowest cost ad-free music service in the world” as Hawn put it.
Again only the radio component of Last.fm will be subscription-based; scrobbling, music and event recommendations, social networking and community forums, as well as Last.fm’s wiki-based artist information pages will remain free.
“You’ll see that this change brings us in line with other music services that already charge you to listen to music on mobile devices. For the cost of a fancy coffee, a Last.fm monthly subscription allows you to listen to radio across all platforms, on all your devices, and without commercial interruptions,” said Hawn.
Additional information about the devices that will require a subscription is available here.
Additional information on Last.fm subscriptions is available here.
Vice President, Product at Last FM, Matthew Hawn, announced that on February 15, the radio service built into Last.fm mobile apps and on home entertainment devices will become a subscriber-only feature, as opposed to the ad-supported version it is right now. Last.fm radio will remain free, but not only on the US, UK and Germany Last.fm website – also for Xbox Live and Windows Mobile 7 users in the US and UK.
Free radio will be offered via the Last.fm desktop app as usual.
Hawn explained that an ad-supported, free-to-listeners business model works in the US, UK and Germany, it doesn’t work on other markets. It is for that reason that Last.fm Radio will no longer be ad-supported outside the US, UK and Germany on mobile and home entertainment devices – it will be an ad-free, subscription-based service instead - “the highest quality, lowest cost ad-free music service in the world” as Hawn put it.
Again only the radio component of Last.fm will be subscription-based; scrobbling, music and event recommendations, social networking and community forums, as well as Last.fm’s wiki-based artist information pages will remain free.
“You’ll see that this change brings us in line with other music services that already charge you to listen to music on mobile devices. For the cost of a fancy coffee, a Last.fm monthly subscription allows you to listen to radio across all platforms, on all your devices, and without commercial interruptions,” said Hawn.
Additional information about the devices that will require a subscription is available here.
Additional information on Last.fm subscriptions is available here.
