mercredi 30 Mai 2007, 13h07m

As reported on the BBC, and confirmed on Last's blog, Last.fm has been purchased by CBS. What does this mean for us, the users of Last.fm?

My initial reaction was, "Hmm, that's an interesting combination", followed quickly by, "Man, that sucks." I always seem to have that initial negative backlash to corporate acquisitions of companies I like, mostly because I've seen it turn great companies, great sites, into utterly useless commercial crap far too often.

After reading a bit more, though, I have hope for this. If CBS manages to keep a mostly hands-off leash on Last, this could turn out to be a great thing. Last has a great vision for what they want to do and some great people doing their damnedest to turn that vision into reality. If those people keep the reins and even 80% of the ultimate decision making power for the site, then I think they'll have a chance to pull this off and end up making Last even better, a truly comprehensive music source on the web.

My concern on this is that CBS didn't make this purchase just to look cool. They're going to want some sort of return on their investment. I have no idea what sort of revenue stream Last has developed, though I doubt that it's insignificant. Still, if you just think that CBS will want an overall profit in 10 years, that means Last will have to rake in more than $25 million a year to give CBS a profit in that time frame. Is that doable without destroying everything that makes Last great? I don't know. Is it doable without turning Last into a tool that focuses on promoting CBS-affiliated stuff as a way to make up for "unacceptable" revenue levels? I don't know.

I want to be positive about this move, because I've come to treasure Last.fm as a musical resource and an outlet for my own musical experiences. I don't want to see the community and connections that I've made on here turn into an ugly spectacle like MySpace.

So, to Russ, Mustagila, other Last staff that I've conversed with on here, and the staff as a whole - keep fighting the good fight! Keep doing whatever you can to stay true to the vision you have for Last! As long as Last focuses on the music and not the money, I think you'll see that the vast majority of us that have been with you thus far will stick around for the ride to see where you take us! Good luck and congratulations!