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Digital
Last.fm mobile streaming to go subscription-only
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 8 February 2011
From next week, Last.fm’s various mobile streaming apps and home entertainment device integration whatnots will only be available to paying subscribers. Though their streaming radio services will remain free for users in the UK, US and Germany on the Last.fm website and through it’s desktop software, as well as on Xbox Live and Windows Mobile 7 phones in the UK and US.
The company’s Matthew Hawn explained: “On the Last.fm website an ad-supported, free-to-listeners model is what supports our online radio services in the US, UK and Germany. In other markets and on emerging mobile and home entertainment devices, it is not practical for us to deliver an ad supported radio experience, but instead, we will migrate to what we believe is the highest quality, lowest cost ad-free music service in the world”.
He added: “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”.
While it’s true mobile options from Last.fm’s rivals are only available to paying subscribers, they do generally offer more functionality, in that Spotify and We7 users have complete control over what tracks play when on their mobile apps, rather than just offering an albeit personalised radio-style service.
