Last.fm starts being a "pay per listen" radio: now active

[Kosimo]

Just now...

:(:(:(:(

[toupeiro]

Really? I'm listening to Soledad Brothers on it without paying...

[Kosimo]

Really? I'm listening to Soledad Brothers on it without paying...

Really??

I've received a nice e-mail which says:


Hi kosimo,

Your free trial to Last.fm Radio is over. Did you enjoy it?

Your free trial to Last.fm Radio is about to end. If you're enjoying it, why not
subscribe for only €3.00/month and continue listening to non-stop personalised
radio.

http://www.last.fm/subscribe



Best Regards,
The Last.fm Team



And none of the programs I used to listen Last.fm (Songbird, Rythmbox) works anymore.

When I log into the Last.fm webpage it redirects me here:

http://www.last.fm/subscribe

[Kosimo]

I particularly like the section: What you get?


What you get:

* Unlimited radio streaming
* Ad-free browsing and streaming
* Recent visitors to your profile
Plus, listen to stations of music you’ve loved or tagged.

[Namtabmai]

I believe this has been covered in another thread, but it depends on the country your in if you have to pay or not.


This means that from today, listeners to Last.fm Radio outside of the USA, UK and Germany will be asked to subscribe for €3.00 per month, after a 30 track free trial period. In the USA, UK and Germany, where it’s feasible to run an ad-supported radio service, there won’t be any changes.

[Kosimo]

I believe this has been covered in another thread, but it depends on the country your in if you have to pay or not.

Yes, but the other thread says that will become a paying system...
I was listening the radio just a couple of hours ago....

[mc4100]

I'm the UK. I had subscribed even when it was free -- I think I'll let that run out and move elsewhere. I don't agree with this, if you're born here it's free still, else, hand over the cash please, model of business.

[linuxuser21]

NO! This cannot happen!

[linuxuser21]

I am currently listening and I haven't got this Email (yet?).

[Kosimo]

I am currently listening and I haven't got this Email (yet?).

You'll get one dude... Veeeery soon.... Unless you're in US or UK

[lovinglinux]

Here in Brasil the site says I have a free radio trial of 30 tracks, then I have to pay.

[linuxuser21]

You'll get one dude... Veeeery soon.... Unless you're in US or UK

Well... I guess it's good that I live in the US then....

[Bios Element]

I'm the UK. I had subscribed even when it was free -- I think I'll let that run out and move elsewhere. I don't agree with this, if you're born here it's free still, else, hand over the cash please, model of business.

That's not the way it works. It's because advertisers will only pay so much for someone in say india compared to someone in the usa. Pretty simple economics.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Maybe I'm close enough to the US border that my IP address is sneaking through. I hope they don't fix it :P

[Bou]

I believe this has been covered in another thread, but it depends on the country your in if you have to pay or not.

Curiously, I live in the same country as Kosimo and I can still listen to it for free. Didn't get the mail either.

[Kosimo]

Curiously, I live in the same country as Kosimo and I can still listen to it for free. Didn't get the mail either.

Yes, we're living the same Catalan linguistic domain.

You have 30 free trial songs, after that... You'll get the e-mail...

[mc4100]

That's not the way it works. It's because advertisers will only pay so much for someone in say india compared to someone in the usa. Pretty simple economics.

Understanding how it works and being in agreement with it are different. They whole deal screams discrimination, at least to me. I'm not saying they're being over the top, they did what made monetary sense to them (and, to give them the benefit of the doubt, to their customers).

I bought a subscription because I liked what they provided, a sort of free democratic thematic music service. And like any enterprise, they need to find a stable revenue stream to support that venture, I guessed it was "everyone gets this for free and that extra if they pay".
But now they've picked one type that is per se elective for this group of people, advertising, and one that's compulsory for that group of people, subscription. I don't like it.

[lovinglinux]

Understanding how it works and being in agreement with it are different. They whole deal screams discrimination, at least to me. I'm not saying they're being over the top, they did what made monetary sense to them (and, to give them the benefit of the doubt, to their customers).

I bought a subscription because I liked what they provided, a sort of free democratic thematic music service. And like any enterprise, they need to find a stable revenue stream.
But they've picked one type that is per se elective for this group of people, advertising, and one that's compulsory for that group of people, subscription. I don't like it.

At least they offer an option for foreign users to use their service with a fair price, unlike Hulu for example that simply block international users.

[Christmas]

Is it me or the Last.fm Scrobbler from the official website (version 1.5.1 in Debian Lenny) still works? I'm located in Romania.

[Kosimo]

Is it me or the Last.fm Scrobbler from the official website (version 1.5.1 in Debian Lenny) still works? I'm located in Romania.

As said, you have 30 songs trial...

After that you'll get the e-mail

[Christmas]

As said, you have 30 songs trial...

After that you'll get the e-mail

Oh, thanks. I didn't read the whole thread.

[Kosimo]

Oh, thanks. I didn't read the whole thread.

Use it with care than.... A song per day then you still have one month subscription :P

[Polygon]

yeah, banshee usually has a 'last.fm suggested artist thing' on the bottom of the player, but since i read this thread, i started a new song (it was paused) and now its gone.

is it only pay to listen if you live outside of the US?

[Kosimo]

yeah, banshee usually has a 'last.fm suggested artist thing' on the bottom of the player, but since i read this thread, i started a new song (it was paused) and now its gone.

is it only pay to listen if you live outside of the US?


Last.fm should be free in UK, US, and Germany. Anywhere else, will be "pay to listen"

http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/03/lastfm-radio-to.html

[dox_drum]

They sent the message to me and after acouple of weeks I couldn't hear music for free anymore.

It's a shame!

[dox_drum]

I'm in Chile.

[happysmileman]

Up until a couple months ago my ISP made me use a proxy in London or something weird like that.

Now I wish they did it again.

[Kosimo]

Up until a couple months ago my ISP made me use a proxy in London or something weird like that.

Now I wish they did it again.

In fact the wild is full of proxies... :lolflag:

[Christmas]

Use it with care than.... A song per day then you still have one month subscription :P

Strange thing I listened to about three songs then stopped it thinking to myself "the rest... tomorrow!" :)

I never listened much to the Last.fm radio and I guess $3 isn't that much for it. They offer great features for free anyway.

[happysmileman]

In fact the wild is full of proxies... :lolflag:

Yeah but mostly slow or unreliable ones, I'm not really bothered to go looking for a proxy reliable and fast enough to stream music over.

[elliotn]

€3 thats close to R40 for me in SA huh

[Sealbhach]

There's still Grooveshark, which is pretty good. It's only music, nobody's gonna starve because of this.:)

When I was young we made our own music... etc. etc.

.

[Kosimo]

There's still Grooveshark, which is pretty good. It's only music, nobody's gonna starve because of this.:)

When I was young we made our own music... etc. etc.

.


I don't really like Grooveshark because the station personalization isn't that good as Last.fm, also because I can't setup any of my current players to tune Grooveshark,

[rudihawk]

€3 thats close to R40 for me in SA huh

Yea, too bad we don't have the bandwidth here to stream stuff like this all the time :(

[Kosimo]

Yea, too bad we don't have the bandwidth here to stream stuff like this all the time :(

Shame.... Just curios anyway, what's your current bandwith?

[ashmew2]

I dont really use Last.fm , but for anyone in India , its going to be around 200 /- Indian Rupees a month. Its not expensive but i still dont support what they are doing..

[Kosimo]

Anybody is paying for it?

[RiceMonster]

Luckily I don't use the radio. I use it to build charts and find new artists. If I was using the radio, I'd have left.

[Wiebelhaus]

Still free in Pan-America as far as I understand.

[Giant Speck]

I wish there was an easy way to compile a list of all the songs I have "thumbed-up" on Pandora. Right now, I have about ten stations, and each one has its own list of bookmarked songs.

[Metallion]

Anybody is paying for it?

I am.

It's funny how it actually offers you the choise between 3 euros, 3 dollars and 3 pounds. Anybody not going for dollars is just stupid. :) In the end I'm only paying 2.34 euro for a month of music... That's not even as much as one proper beer where I come from and I think their service is worth as much.

[Fingers & Thumbs]

I love Lastfm, but rarely use the radio, also being in the UK this won't affect me. The great thing about Lastfm is that it can be used in many different ways, of which the radio is clearly very popular. Perhaps the Lastfm team could try to implement a more internationally dynamic advertising possibility rather than taking the easy way out.

[Kosimo]

I am.

It's funny how it actually offers you the choise between 3 euros, 3 dollars and 3 pounds. Anybody not going for dollars is just stupid. :) In the end I'm only paying 2.34 euro for a month of music... That's not even as much as one proper beer where I come from and I think their service is worth as much.

True, I saw that as well, and of course I will go for Dollars as well.

Are you using the linux client under Jaunty?

[Metallion]

True, I saw that as well, and of course I will go for Dollars as well.

Are you using the linux client under Jaunty?

I'm using Exaile on Intrepid and Hardy for a direct connection and when I'm behind a proxy, I use the official client from the repos. Work like a charm for me.

I don't have a Jaunty machine yet though.

[Kosimo]

I'm using Exaile on Intrepid and Hardy for a direct connection and when I'm behind a proxy, I use the official client from the repos. Work like a charm for me.

I don't have a Jaunty machine yet though.

Ok, because looks like the Official Last.fm linux app does not work properly in Jaunty. I prefer it over others

[Metallion]

Ok, because looks like the Official Last.fm linux app does not work properly in Jaunty. I prefer it over others

What happens when you just install the Intrepid one from packages.ubuntu.com?

[Kosimo]

What happens when you just install the Intrepid one from packages.ubuntu.com?

I've never tried that one, but instead using the official repo

http://apt.last.fm/ which doesn't works for Jaunty yet