Forum » Feedback and Ideas

Last.fm Radio to require subscription (outside of UK/US/DE)

 
    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 4 Jul 2009, 06:23

    you need a new tin hat.

    Master0fNothing said:
    Neither would it if the whole site was to go down. Permanently. Taking all the data with it (read: directly handing it over to RIAA).


    lawl.

  • http://torrentfreak.com/id-rather-be-raped-by-pirate-bay-than-go-with-spotify-090813/

    Swedish artist and composer Magnus Uggla has launched a scathing attack on the owners of Spotify. After discovering that Sony BMG is a shareholder and after receiving virtually no payment from his music being played there, he has withdrawn his tracks from the service declaring, “I’d rather be raped by The Pirate Bay.”

    Since I noticed that Spotify gets a lot of attention here at Last.Fm since the subscribers thing here...
    o yeah, they had a similiar article once about iTunes,

    Now how fucked up this subscribers thing might be, at least the artists get payed, right? I might hope so anyway. Yeah, for me this site totally lost its magic, that one xtra thing that made it special is gone. But thank god there's enough for me to keep having a bit fun over here. I still get inspired bout the things I find here, get introduced to cool new stuff, etc. It's still a very nice tool for me. And I rather have a profile here then at Facebook, MySpace, etc.

    • misslynx said...
    • Subscriber
    • 14 Aug 2009, 18:32
    Since this thread has been revived, I figure I'll toss in my two cents (or should it be $3?) on the subscription issue:

    I do think the announcement could have been handled better, and it's a bit irksome that some countries pay and others don't, but honestly? It's THREE DOLLARS. Or whatever local equivalent. How many things does the average person spend that on in any given week without even thinking about it? Most of us will happily drop that on a beer on any given night out, and even a cup of coffee will run you more than that in some places. And that's for a month of unlimited listening to whatever you want. It boggles my mind that people whined about it so much.

    At the point when I discovered Last.fm, I'd been on the point of subscribing to Live365.com just to get rid of their horrifically annoying audio ads, and that was going to be around $17 a month or something. So when Last.fm first went paid, I was afraid it would be around the same, and pleasantly surprised to see how much less it turned out to be. Grumbled briefly about the bad way it was announced (via a blog many people didn't know existed, since it's only linked to in microscopic fine print in the site footer), but signed up and haven't regretted it.

    Really, I get tired of the "everything must be free always and anyone who wants to charge anything at all for anything is an evil oppressor" mindset. I assume most of the people complaining have jobs, or at least have at some point had jobs or hope to have them in the future. Presumably, when you show up for work, you expect to eventually get a paycheque, correct? So why do you assume that anyone who works at a web-based business doesn't? Web-based businesses have to pay the bills somehow, and advertising doesn't always work.

    Maybe I'm biased on this because I'm a web developer myself (no, I don't work for Last.fm, or any other music service), but I don't see why the people who program and maintain web services you use are somehow less deserving of making a living than the people who pour your coffee or beer, or supply any of the other products or services you use. Every time you insist that you have a right to have something for free, the flip side of that is that you are saying someone else has an obligation to work for you for free. And if you wouldn't work for free, maybe you shouldn't expect them to either.

  • Please go and read at least the first page of comments, then you might understand that most of the users were (and still are) primarily upset about being treated as "second class humans" because they live in the wrong country.

    So all your long rambling about a few dollars more or less unfortunately misses the point...

    This would have been much smoother if last.fm simply had said something along the line of "sorry folks, but we have to pay too much royalties and we can't afford it any longer in all the countries except those who generate enough advertising revenue, so please sign up for just a few bucks per month to continue listening to the radio (and enjoying a few other benefits with it!)".

    Instead they choose to offend a huge number of users with "Radio will stop playing if you don't live in the right country. Those few privileged will continue to get everything for free. Those outside can subscribe and pay, but will still get less than the privileged ones." (there are certain featues which are not available outside the big countries, even if you pay for a subscription).

    • Canoecat said...
    • Subscriber
    • 16 Aug 2009, 10:34
    I SO hear that. Thanks sietegatosrojos...

    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 16 Aug 2009, 12:36
    sietegatosrojos said:
    Please go and read at least the first page of comments, then you might understand that most of the users were (and still are) primarily upset about being treated as "second class humans" because they live in the wrong country.

    So all your long rambling about a few dollars more or less unfortunately misses the point...

    This would have been much smoother if last.fm simply had said something along the line of "sorry folks, but we have to pay too much royalties and we can't afford it any longer in all the countries except those who generate enough advertising revenue, so please sign up for just a few bucks per month to continue listening to the radio (and enjoying a few other benefits with it!)".

    Instead they choose to offend a huge number of users with "Radio will stop playing if you don't live in the right country. Those few privileged will continue to get everything for free. Those outside can subscribe and pay, but will still get less than the privileged ones." (there are certain featues which are not available outside the big countries, even if you pay for a subscription).


    Yeah you are totally correct. It's not about how much the subscription costs..it's how they made the announcement to last.fm users

    However quick question as a subscriber, I thought with a subscription you would be able to hear the full songs..I'm still hearing 30 second previews of songs and that's annoying. Or does the subscription have nothing to do with that?

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 16 Aug 2009, 17:21
    The subscription has nothing to do with that.

    What the subscription allows is more access to radios. Whether songs are 30 sec previews or full length is a different matter, largely down to permissions set by rights holders. Subs and non-subs get exactly the same on that score.

  • Mad and will not pay. I also stopped reccomending Last.FM

    In order to keep providing the best radio service on the web, we need to ask our listeners from countries other than USA, UK and Germany to subscribe for €3.00 per month.

    This is similar to how the whole world works. US gets stuff for free and finances itself by raping other countries. Why don't you just say:

    In order to keep Last.FM free for US citizens we are charging everyone else.

    It's less words.

  • On a side note i'd rather pay 10 dollars a month for a high speed proxy server so I can get Hulu and all the other "US only" streaming sites as well.

    • ADChaos said...
    • User
    • 21 Aug 2009, 00:44
    It's hardly rape.

    Russ said:

    It's no secret that Last.fm streaming is paid for by advertising. We've unfortunately been forced to close down streaming in places where we can't support our streaming by advertising.

    I don't see this as unethical.


    Correct me if I'm wrong but it's not a case of favouring US (or UK/DE) citizens at other countries' expense, it's a case of free streaming being available in those countries where the advertising revenue can support it without user subscription. It's not favouritism of one country over another, it's favouring something affordable over something not affordable. That's just business, like it or not. The solution would be to raise the advertising revenue for the site in your country.

    • Bloopy said...
    • Subscriber
    • 21 Aug 2009, 01:27
    ADChaos said:
    The solution would be to raise the advertising revenue for the site in your country.
    Or just pay for a subscription. Less effort!

    It's Halloween all year round over here: Chronic Halloween Syndrome
    • ADChaos said...
    • User
    • 21 Aug 2009, 01:29
    Bloopy said:
    ADChaos said:
    The solution would be to raise the advertising revenue for the site in your country.
    Or just pay for a subscription. Less effort!


    Yeah but that's rape, remember?

    • DFA1979 said...
    • Subscriber
    • 21 Aug 2009, 10:41

    Re: Mad and will not pay. I also stopped reccomending Last.FM

    liquidtouch said:
    In order to keep providing the best radio service on the web, we need to ask our listeners from countries other than USA, UK and Germany to subscribe for €3.00 per month.

    This is similar to how the whole world works. US gets stuff for free and finances itself by raping other countries. Why don't you just say:

    In order to keep Last.FM free for US citizens we are charging everyone else.

    It's less words.
    They don't say that because that's not what they're doing. It's free in countries where they don't lose money by letting people stream for free. In countries where the costs of providing free radio are bigger than the income from doing so, people are asked to pay.

  • not good .

    DAMSsharethelove 2009 . soon . check my profile for details .
  • Lat.fm is well worth any signing up. Its free music and it doesnt require anything. i get in my car and hook up my iphone and click on my last.fm application and its like i have free XM radio. its great and is something well worth any signinup up just to give an email.
    BIG DEAL!!

    Visit www.darksplat.com for my reviews on music! Great way to learn, and truly understand these great bands and use last.fm more wisely. Bands like Marilyn Manson, Linkin Park, Seether, Godsmack and more.
    www.darksplat.com
  • [Spam]

    [spam kill - mod]

    Edited by HairMetalAddict on 29 Aug 2009, 08:51
  • [Spam]

    [spam kill - mod]

    Edited by HairMetalAddict on 29 Aug 2009, 08:52
    • IanAR said...
    • User
    • 28 Aug 2009, 14:11

    Re: Deezer.com

    NederNeoHippie said:
    [spam kill - mod]
    It's an all-wrapped-up-in-Flash site, so I can't be further bothered - Ian

    Edited by HairMetalAddict on 29 Aug 2009, 08:52
  • why not Holland, Luxembourg, Norway etc

    If its about advertising revenue, these countries are very rich and internet usage in Holland is the highest in the world (we like porn a lot). So is it so hard to get some advertising revenue in these countries?
    They (the new owners) just cant be bothered, provıng they are just commercial s**t and dont care about music or anything else. Learn from Google Amazon and Facebook dont try to get rich fast on Internet and do not bother the users with how you are making money.
    Morons

    • Tecfan said...
    • Event Moderator
    • 7 Oct 2009, 09:46
    Friendbythesea: I suggest you read through a few pages of this thread

    If you're into /, you might enjoy my (free) tracks: Tecfan
    • rv2931 said...
    • Subscriber
    • 10 Oct 2009, 22:14
    I read some posts in here and I feel like the debate is without end, just because some people don't take the time to try to understand, just because the LastFM team doesn't take the time to give a complete explanation of how they work.

    I am French, I already know that music copyrights are a big source of discussion and a big source of business in France. I don't think that is really the matter of LastFM. What I really understand is that in France, broadcasting free music on the web has a too high price to keep doing it without huge advertising banners (deezer) or without subcriptions. That is what the LastFM team wants to tell us, and I think they are unfortunatly right.
    You can all notice that even if Deezer is full of advertising banners, Deezer is under pressure of big production companies that remove diffusion rights on more and more tracks of their artists.
    So, I agree with the fact that is not normal to pay LastFM 3€ a month for a service that normally doesn't cost 3€ a month. But I think the problem is elsewhere, I think the problem is that is not normal that LastFM has to pay such charges in France compared to other countries. It is a french problem and we have to discuss this problems with French production companies.
    LastFM can show all their goodwill, I will continue to believe that the resignation to pay € 3 per month, it is being agree with a system of copyright law in France that is unacceptable. The production companies have one clear goal, making money, and they make impossible the discovery and listening to various artists by making life difficult for free radio stations like LastFM, even Deezer.

    What I'll be interested to know and to understand is the real working of a web radio with copyrights, major companies and laws. How copyrights are calculated ?do they differ according to the number of listening on lastFM ? do they differ according to the production companie ? Which companies/artists are the more expensive ? majors or small independant companies ?
    Who fixes the rights price and when are they fixed ? Is this at the signature of the contract with the artist or is it the production company that sets it itself ? Is it a negociation between the radio and the production company ?

    I think that artists, especially French artists are not completely foreign to the problem. When I see Pascal Obispo, Lara Fabian and other Johnny Halliday, who earn so much money ...

    So yes, I don't want to pay for LastFM, may be I will do it anyway because I want support LastFM, but it is justifying French copyright system. So don't say that is not normal that LastFM required subscriptions, but say rather that French copyright system is not really normal and is not taking full advantage to artists

    j'en rêvais, lastfm l'a fait :o)
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 11 Oct 2009, 05:38
    rv2931 said:
    What I'll be interested to know and to understand is the real working of a web radio with copyrights, major companies and laws. How copyrights are calculated ?do they differ according to the number of listening on lastFM ? do they differ according to the production companie ? Which companies/artists are the more expensive ? majors or small independant companies ?
    Who fixes the rights price and when are they fixed ? Is this at the signature of the contract with the artist or is it the production company that sets it itself ? Is it a negociation between the radio and the production company ?

    I think that artists, especially French artists are not completely foreign to the problem. When I see Pascal Obispo, Lara Fabian and other Johnny Halliday, who earn so much money ...

    So yes, I don't want to pay for LastFM, may be I will do it anyway because I want support LastFM, but it is justifying French copyright system. So don't say that is not normal that LastFM required subscriptions, but say rather that French copyright system is not really normal and is not taking full advantage to artists
    Some very intelligent questions there. I can help a little, but I can't answer all of them, unfortunately. So, to the best of my knowledge (and off the top of my head) :

    Last.fm is a UK company so it is obliged to observe UK laws. This means it must pay monies to the companies collecting it here. One is PRS - www.prsformusic.com. And I can't remember the other one (publishing rights?). It was mentioned in a discussion here in forums somewhere, but I've forgotten it now. Last.fm defines itself as 'internet radio', so they're the pages you're looking for.
    http://www.prsformusic.com/users/broadcastandonline/onlinemobile/InternetRadio/Pages/internetradio.aspx

    I don't know about whether costs differ per production company (you mean label?), but this information most likely isn't available anywhere. I think they're all supposed to have the same deal with all music sites, but between you and me, I reckon they do deals per site. Look at Spotify. No one can figure out how they're doing it, so they must have done special deals. But this is all speculation. Nobody really knows and music sites are not obliged to tell us. That's just business.

    Streaming costs overseas (from the UK) isn't something I know too much about. Unless I do and I've forgotten that too. If I do know, it's here in forums somewhere! lol Might even be in this thread. But you can get this information and more in the press. I have been bookmarking all interesting articles music-related in StumbleUpon, which you are welcome to browse - http://babs05.stumbleupon.com/tag/music/

    You'll find answers to most of these questions and more in Google. Just keep searching and try different key words, see where the information takes you. Remember journalists and bloggers sometimes make mistakes, so cross-reference and double-check to be sure of something.

    This article from a couple of days ago is interesting. It's not about Last.fm. We7 is another UK music streaming service. They're speculating about Spotify, but it doesn't matter, look at the costs and other information which can be related back to Last.fm.
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/oct/08/we7-spotify-music-licensing-figures

Anonymous users may not post messages. Please log in or create an account to post in the forums.