CBS presents free internet music on Last.fm
CBS said Wednesday that it would expand its Internet music service, Last.fm, to allow users to listen to any song on their computers whenever they wanted, up to three times. The move is expected to give a lift to the idea that music through the Internet can be similar to radio — free and supported by advertising — yet give users a choice of what they want to listen to. Until now, Last.fm has offered an Internet radio. Users could listen to a series of songs selected by the service on the basis of their musical tastes, but they could not choose individual songs. Under the new arrangement, users who visit the service’s Web site (www.last.fm) can search for and select any of 3.5 million songs to listen to on their computers through technology called streaming. There are limitations: any given song can only be played three times.
What is more, the free music cannot be downloaded to a portable player, like an iPod. Song downloads will be offered through a link to music stores, including Apple’s iTunes and Amazon.com. Ultimately, Last.fm will offer users the chance to buy a monthly subscription that will allow them to listen to songs as many times as they want. Quincy Smith, the president of CBS’s Interactive unit, said the company would prefer to offer more free music, but said there was a “healthy tension” over this with the music labels. This is an amazing news for already great service. You can now easily check the single before you download or buy it somewhere else!
Source: NY Times
Comments(15)
way to go
This is awesome
Great to see big companies like this slowly opening up the music industry !!
nice
great became even better.
Nice one. Lot of stream recording software out there that save as MP3. Thanks Last.fm
I guess that’s a good start, but allowing people to choose what they want to listen to 3x is not that big of a step.
nice idea! but it’s just a start
So, they’re doing the exact same thing that Napster has already done for like a year. Good that other companies are taking note.
i guess the industry will now say this contributes to file sharing lmfao. it is just like the old days when peeps used to stick a tape in the stereo and record the radio station and then pass copies to their friends. sharing has always been around and always will be. the internet did not make it more popular it just made it easier for the industry to track it. so now make good use of the digital radio copying lmao. looks like through this service more small groups may get the attention they deserve. why should the big labels and groups pay for advertising when the internet offers so many free ways for advertising lmao. so who is going to make the song the internet killed the video like the song they use to play on mtv the video killed the radio. looks like the digitial radio will rule for a few years. soon all normal radio stations will run through the net. i guess you can say i am just rambiling so i will stop lol.
Hello, Audio Hijack Pro!
http://www.musicovery.com already does that, it has less music i bet, but it’s quite good.
Anyway it’s always pleasant to have more free music online
anywhere.fm is also a very good site. Upload your own music, and listen to music from others for free, anywhere
last.fm is brilliant… ive used it for the last 2 years now and i got a subscription to it now
Heh. There’s a tiny little utility called “FreeMusicZilla” (google it) which lets you download the music you hear from last.fm, myspace etc. With that streaming option, it’s like the biggest p2p music source
Hoorray!
@Nero,12
Thanks for recommending anywhere.fm. I started using it today and its pretty damn awesome