Last.fm Goes Independent After Breaking Up With Paramount Skydance

Last.fm is an independent company again, it has announced on its forum, nearly two decades after it was acquired by CBS. “Today, Last.fm begins a new chapter as an independent company,” the announcement reads. “Ownership has changed, but the product you use every day has not.” It also said that it will keep its current team. Last.fm is a music website that can track what you listen to across platforms, apps and streaming services, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music. 

The company will retain your accounts and scrobbles, which are what it calls the recorded plays of a song, as they are. When you play a track on a streaming service you’ve connected to Last.fm, it “scrobbles” that song and logs it to your profile for tracking. Every play is equivalent to one scrobble. It will also keep your data and privacy settings, as well as your Pro subscription and your billing information if you’ve been paying for its premium features. 

Last.fm started as an internet radio station in 2002, and it didn’t get scrobbling until a few years later when it merged with the original team that created the tracking process. It operated as an independent company until it was acquired by CBS Interactive, which is now part of the merged Paramount Skydance Corporation, for $280 million in 2007. In 2014, it killed off its $3-a-month subscription radio service to focus on tracking your listening habits on other providers. The company promised to share more about what you can expect from the transition in the coming weeks, but everything will work on Last.fm “exactly as it did yesterday” for now.