Before we begin this story, I want you to know something. I used to be a Last.fm addict. It's a really slick social music networking website and has a bunch of great features. Millions of people use it and love it, and its intentions have always seemed to be pure -- simply helping people find and discover new music. It was all good.
See, the purpose of Last.fm is to track your listening habits and compare them with other users to provide recommendations. It does this by using a program called AudioScrobbler, which attaches itself to iTunes and tracks the songs you listen to. Completely harmless. So, what does gentle-giant CBS have to do with Last.fm?
Well, like the headline says, CBS has bought Last.fm for 250 million washingtons. The acquisition was confirmed May 30, 2007 on Last.Fm's blog. The homeboy responsible for posting the news seems ridiculously optimistic and promises Last.fm will keep doing the right things. Of course, one would only assume that this is the case. The acquisition is certainly a step in the right direction for CBS because of advertising and marketing potential, but let's not focus on how Last.fm has "sold out" and is sleeping with "the man." Okay?
