Much of the record industry has historically seen peer-to-peer file-sharing services as a threat, although those services are also known to be powerful market research tools. Likewise, live music promoters are beginning to see that any online service that tracks and measures what's coming out of your computer speakers can be used to help gauge the popularity of artists when they go on tour.
To that end, New York concert promoter
Bowery Presents and streaming music service
Last.fm Ltd. have forged a partnership under which BP will use Last.fm's service as a tool to measure audience demand. Live-music ticket sales and record sales don't always match perfectly--electronic music and jam bands come to mind as statistical outliers here--but
fast-rising acts are sure to draw bigger crowds.
The deal is London-based Last.fm's first in the U.S., although it's been working with concert promoters in the U.K. for some time. The company maintains a searchable
database of upcoming shows, although its calendar service isn't as extensive as that of
services like Songkick and SonicLiving. It's also added a "summer events" radio station that's accessible from BP's homepage. Last.fm uses
collaborative filtering to generate music recommendations based on any similarities in people's tastes. In so doing, it collects information about songs to which a user is listening, whether through Last.fm's streaming radio service, iTunes, Windows Media Player or any other application.
CBS Broadcasting Inc.
acquired Last.fm for $280 million in May 2007. Last.fm also
added its parent's terrestrial radio properties to its streaming service in April.
-- Paul BonanosFor more see
Wired Listening PostSee posts from Tech Confidential regarding Last.fm's
acquisition by CBS and
addition of terrestrial radio stations
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