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Posts Tagged “

Last.fm

startups

Napster shareholders demand $280 million valuation

Napster is still trying to prove that it can sell MP3s, but for some Napster shareholders fighting a proxy battle to get representation on the board, they'd prefer the company was for sale, and at a premium price. Based on their SEC filing, shareholders are arguing that with the purchase of Last.fm by CBS for $280 million, Napster should be worth equally as much, if not more. The only reason it's not is because of a "lack of confidence in governance." They seem to be overlooking the fact that Last.fm doesn't have the brand name baggage but does have a lively community of users.

the chart

Bebo needs cash to keep its servers running

Now we know why Bebo's so eager for more cash. It needs more servers. According to Pingdom, Bebo has already been down for 12 hours and 28 minutes so far this year. Check out the full chart to see how 13 other social networks have fared so far.

digital music

CBS finally figures out what to do with Last.fm

CBS has unearthed a novel idea for growing the U.S. audience of Last.fm, the U.K.-based music website cum social network it purchased last May. It's going to try promoting it. In the Stateside push, the network is offering free, streaming music from the four major music labels and a bevy of independent artists. The ad-supported network bills itself as "redesigning the online music economy": It will pay artists per play. That explains why it's agreed to all sorts of icky streaming restrictions, such as limiting songs to three plays per user. It's a mutually agreeable term where CBS doesn't end up pissing off the music industry, which provide the songs it plays on its many conventional radio stations, nor does the music industry end up slighting CBS, an important promotional partner. Lost in all the tradeoffs: The interests of the very listeners CBS hopes to attract.

file sharing

Pirate Bay adds Last.fm widgets to torrents

Swedish file sharing site Pirate Bay has added widgets from music recommendation site Last.fm to its system to give extra information about music shared on the site. Last.fm told The Register that while it does not endorse the Pirate Bay, it won't forbid them from using Last.fm widgets either. That wouldn't be "in the spirit" of its API — the specifications by which Last.fm allows other websites to incorporate its tools into their pages. More »