CBS-owned social music site and streaming radio provider Last.fm Ltd.
relaunched this morning with a variety of new features. The redesign includes an enhanced music player and personal music library, recommendation engine and real-time updating.
Last.fm has also recently introduced new networking and multimedia initiatives, including an iPhone application, a home-stereo networking product via a
partnership with Logitech, a
royalty program for unsigned artists, a television tie-in with CBS programming, and "
smart advertising" features. (CBS
acquired Last.fm for $280 million in May 2007.) The mobile application is especially critical, as editorially driven rival Pandora Media Inc., which employs a team of experts who analyze songs to provide recommendations,
launched a
well-received iPhone
product last week.
The relaunch hasn't gone 100% smoothly. I've had trouble logging in, and the site has been glitchy since I've been toying with it. (They probably didn't intend one of the top artists on its homepage this morning to be "
Warner Bros. - Up 149% this week," especially in light of last month's news that Warner Music Group Corp. [
WMG] had
pulled its songs from Last.fm's on-demand streaming service. It's fixed now, though.) Moreover, a lot of the
commenters on Last.fm's corporate blog announcement seem to want the old site back, and agree that the site's been sluggish since the relaunch took effect.
The race between Last.fm and Pandora, among other music recommendation services, neatly reflects an ongoing battle of ideas in the Web 2.0 sphere: Can Pandora's team of experts serve the public better than Last.fm's wisdom-of-crowds approach? And will new bells and whistles make a big difference, or will it come down to which service provides better music in the end? Or will Pandora's
inability to maintain an international presence hamper it forever? Both services already have their loyalists; there may be room for both when all is said and done. I'll be listening for answers.
-- Paul BonanosSee Last.fm's blog post announcing the new redesignSee previous posts from Tech Confidential about
Pandora's iPhone application,
Last.fm's issues with WMG, and
Last.fm's Artist Royalty ProgramFor more see
TimesOnline
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Chongleur!