Last.fm Drops On-Demand Streaming, Integrates Spotify, Others

Last.fm is introducing some pretty big changes for the users, but also in terms of overall strategy. The music-recommendation and -discovery service is dropping on-demand music streaming, which it only offered in the US, the UK and Germany anyway, and will introduce instead partner links where a user can listen to the full track. These partners vary depending on the region and include MOG, Spotify, The Hype Machine, We7 and VEVO for now.

“Today we’re taking the first steps in ‘closing the loop’ and nurturing this usage even further by adding links on our track pages to some of our favourite music services that scrobble,” Last.fm’s Matthew Ogle wrote.

“Our beta launch partners for this integration are Spotify (in the UK, France, Spain, and most of Scandinavia), MOG (in the US), and The Hype Machine (worldwide). We’re also working on connecting our users to more great services soon, including We7 (UK), VEVO (US/Canada, and our first 3rd-party video scrobbling partner!), and others,” he announced.

Last.fm introduced on-demand streaming for individual tracks a couple of years ago on three markets, the US, the UK and Germany. It was only available to paid customers and it turns out it didn’t become that popular. With better alternatives that focus solely on being a music-streaming service, it’s no wonder.

Now, Last.fm is going back to its roots as a music-discovery engine. You will be able to preview the tracks on the site, but, if you want to listen to the whole song, you will have to follow one of the links provided by the site. The feature is labeled as a beta, but it is available to all users. The site won’t be hosting any more videos either and will rely on embedded ones provided by YouTube and, at a future date, Vevo, the music video joint-venture. However, the radio feature is alive and well and will continue to be offered, as Last.fm says it is central to the service.