Last.fm Launches 'Music On-Demand' Service

by Jarrett Martineau | January 23, 2008 at 02:08 pm

353 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Pandora tried to achieve similar success with streaming tracks into an algorithmically-determind internet radio format, but came up against licensing barriers that prevented the service from being listened to outside of the U.S. Will CBS succeed with their streaming music on-demand service?

Last.fm, the social music network owned by CBS Corp., said on Wednesday it is introducing a free service for fans to listen to their favourite songs on-demand.

The new service is being launched in partnership with the four major music companies, as well as over 150,000 labels and artists.

When fans in the United States, Britain and Germany search for an artist on the Last.fm website, they can now stream the artist's song for nothing or pay to download an MP3 version of the song via Amazon.com.

Last.fm said the streaming service is funded by advertising revenue, which is shared with the music companies.