Let us take you back… way back, to the days (specifically: May 2007) when a streaming personalised-radio startup was valued at $280m in an acquisition by a US media giant.
The giant was CBS and the startup was Last·fm, which had 15 million users at the time streaming music and keeping track of (or ‘scrobbling’ in the term it coined) their habits.
19 years later, CBS is now part of an even bigger media group, Paramount Skydance Corporation, but as of this week Last·fm is not.
“Today, Last·fm begins a new chapter as an independent company. Ownership has changed, but the product you use every day has not,” announced the company on its support forum.
“Your account, your listening history, and your data remain exactly where they are. The team building Last·fm is the same. The service continues as normal… We’ll share more about what comes next in the weeks ahead.”
The post added that going independent means “we can focus fully on building listening insights and community features for music fans”.
Last·fm still files financials with Companies House in the UK. The last set, for 2024, revealed that its annual revenues grew from just under £2m in 2023 to £2.2m in 2024, but that it swung from an operating profit of £1.5m to an operating loss of £690.3k over that period.
68.5% of its revenues came from subscriptions in 2024. Last·fm charges £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year for its ‘Pro’ tier, which gives users more reports on their listening as well as removing ads and giving early access to new features.
The challenge for the newly-independent company – but also the exciting opportunity – is how to grow that business and reach a new generation of music listeners, including those who weren’t even born when it enjoyed its original heyday.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source musically.com ’
