CBS-owned Last.fm Ltd. became the latest digital music company to reduce its headcount Thursday, when it laid off fewer than 20 people, according to this
report. The layoffs likely account for less than 20% of the staff at Last.fm's London headquarters. Rival personalized radio provider Pandora Media Inc.
reduced from 140 to 120 employees in October, dismissing 14% of it staff.
CBS, which bought Last.fm in May 2007 for $280 million, also eliminated an unspecified number of positions as part of the integration of Cnet Inc., six months after it
paid $1.8 billion to acquire that tech site. Last month, CBS confirmed that it had
killed editorially driven music site Juke before it launched, laying off at least five staffers initially employed by Cnet.
Last.fm
redesigned its site in July. Though traffic growth has apparently been
modest during the past year, not all has gone smoothly. Warner Music Group Corp. [WMG]
yanked its songs from the service in June, apparently to renegotiate its royalty rates, and Pandora's iPhone
application handily
outpaced Last.fm's in popularity.
- Paul BonanosFor more, see TechCrunchSee
June 9 and
July 17 posts from Tech Confidential concerning Last.fm
See Nov. 11 post from Tech Confidential concerning CBS, CNET and Juke
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