Music site Last.fm bought by CBS

Category Podcast, Business, Music, Movies | Permalink | 2. June 2007

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CBS has purchased Last.fm, a social-networking site devoted to music. What it plans to do with the site, however, isn’t clear yet.

With the US$280 million deal, announced Wednesday, CBS has acquired a popular social-media technology: the music “scrobbling” engine developed by Last.fm that analyzes what its members listen to. Based on scrobbling results, Last.fm offers recommendations for members’ playlists, creates personalized radio stations, and connects members with people who share similar tastes.

The deal continues the never-ending streak of tech acquisitions that traditional media companies have been pursuing as a way to boost their digital offerings. For example, News Corp., which purchased MySpace.com in 2005, said Wednesday that it has acquired image-sharing site Photobucket and slideshow creator Flektor.

“It’s an aggressive move. Last.fm is a really good service,” Jupiter Research analyst David Card said of the CBS purchase. “Everybody has a slightly different experience, but they do a great job of integrating community with music discovery.”

According to a statement from CBS — which also recently acquired Web video series Wallstrip and has signed multiple video syndication deals–Last.fm’s founders, Felix Miller, Martin Stiksel, and Richard Jones, will continue to run the site independently.

But industry watchers were divided over what CBS has in mind for London-based Last.fm. The service, which was founded in 2002, is popular with more than 15 million active users in 200 countries around the world. The acquisition gives CBS access to a young, tech- and music-savvy demographic, which is certainly a valuable asset. But according to Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey, the hefty price tag suggests that CBS may be after the scrobbling technology too.

The online network was founded in the UK five years ago and it now has more than 15 million active users.

It allows users to connect with other listeners with similar music tastes, to custom-build their own radio stations and to watch music video-clips.

Last.fm founding member Martin Stiksel said it was an “exciting opportunity”.

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk

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