CBS Owned Social Music Network to Offer Free Streaming of Full-length
Recordings From All 4 Major Record Labels and More Than 150,000 Independent
Labels and Artists
Unsigned Artists Also Given Opportunity to Earn Revenue Through
Revolutionary New "Artist Royalty" Service
NEW YORK and LONDON, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Last.fm
(http://www.last.fm) today announced that it is launching a service to allow
anyone to listen to music on the site for free.
Last.fm has become one of the leading places in the world where people
can go to listen to music online. Its vast library has attracted a
community of more than 20 million unique monthly users in 240 countries
around the globe. The heart of Last.fm is a powerful recommendation engine
that guides listeners to music they are likely to enjoy based on prior
selections, connecting them with the music they love and with others who
share their tastes.
In launching this service, Last.fm becomes the first music website to
offer free, global, on-demand access to the largest licensed catalogue of
music built on partnerships with all four major record labels - including
Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG, Warner and EMI - as well as CD Baby, IODA,
the Orchard, Naxos and more than 150,000 independent labels and artists.
Last.fm's free-on-demand service will be advertiser supported, allowing
clients many unique opportunities to reach a highly targeted and engaged
audience.
Last.fm was acquired by the CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) on
May 30, 2007.
"It is clear to us that communities built around great content are
increasingly driving traffic and revenue online," said Leslie Moonves,
President and CEO of the CBS Corporation. "We acquired Last.fm because
music is one of the best ways to build communities on the internet. Adding
such a tremendous collection of content to Last.fm will help it grow by
leaps and bounds. The skill set that we're learning along the way will be
very important as we build additional online communities around our other
world-class content as well."
Martin Stiksel, Last.fm co-founder, said: "We're giving the listener
free access to what is basically the best jukebox in the world. The ability
to dip into such a uniquely broad catalogue from your laptop, home or
office computer, and listen to whatever you want for free represents a new
way of consuming music that in turn might change the way you listen to
music. In that respect, nobody else can currently offer what Last.fm is
offering right now."
At the same time, Last.fm is launching an unprecedented "Artist
Royalty" arrangement, whereby those artists not signed with a label who
choose to upload their music to Last.fm will receive payment, directly from
Last.fm, every time one of their tracks is played. This means artists
without traditional recording or publishing deals will be able to reach
millions of music fans, offer their music for free, while generating
revenue.
"We're building a platform to help redesign the music economy, enabling
artists and labels to earn revenue according to how people listen, rather
than how they buy," said Last.fm's other co-founder, Felix Miller. "Now we
can offer the arrangement to unsigned music creators too. For the first
time, anyone can upload tracks and get paid when those tracks are played.
It's a whole different model -- one that benefits the artists, labels and
advertisers - but most of all the listeners."
Launching today in the US, UK and Germany, Last.fm is scheduled to roll
out the free-on-demand service globally in the coming months. All tracks
can be streamed for free up to three times each. At that point, the
listener has the option to purchase the song for download via any of
Last.fm's affiliate partners including iTunes, Amazon and 7 Digital.
About Last.fm
Founded in 2002 in London, Last.fm is the online, social music
revolution that connects people with music and artists with listeners. By
joining the Last.fm community, music fans can choose to share their music
preferences by linking their media player to the Last.fm database. This
database is populated continually with over 600 million monthly track
submissions from Last.fm music fans. As a result, Last.fm can intelligently
recommend songs, artists, local concerts and even other members based on
their musical tastes. Thanks to partnerships with EMI, Warner Music Group,
Sony BMG, CD Baby, independent aggregators The Orchard and IODA, and more
than 100,000 independent musicians and 20,000 labels that upload music
directly to the site, Last.fm can draw recommendations from one of the most
extensive online music catalogues. Learn more about Last.fm at http://www.last.fm.
About CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is a mass media company with constituent parts that
reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer
businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The
Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with
well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive
distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50
states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every
field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and
The CW - a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros.
Entertainment), cable television (Showtime and CSTV Networks), local
television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication
(CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio
(CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing
(Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS
Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/DVD
(CBS Home Entertainment), in-store media (CBS Outernet) and motion pictures
(CBS Films). For more information, log on to http://www.cbscorporation.com.
SOURCE CBS Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.cbscorporation.com
http://www.last.fm
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/185007.html/
CONTACT:
In New York: Dana McClintock,
+1-212-975-1077, dlmcclintock@cbs.com, or Shannon Jacobs,
+1-212-975-3161, sljacobs@cbs.com; or In London: Christian Ward,
+44 (0) 20 7780 7080, christian@last.fm
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