Last.fm is a free service for discovering the latest music hits. Even in times of the Internet, it is not that easy to find music to suit your own taste. With Last.fm, you can create your own hit list, find like-minded people and listen to the radio for hours.
The music recommendation service of Last.fm can be used free of charge by any music listener by registering on the website. Last.fm finds and recommends new bands, top hits and singles based on the songs played by the user. To use this function, you have to download the so-called "Scrobbel". This sends a small note to the operator so that Last.fm knows which song the user is listening to, which one he likes best and how often they are played. The tracks heard are compared to more than 43 million “scribblers” around the world. Last.fm users receive personalized recommendations every day via scrobbling.
Last.fm is a useful service for music enthusiasts looking for new music. In addition, the site offers a very large community and extras such as concert recommendations.
Your Own Profile
If you have created a Last.fm account via Facebook and have already entered your favorite bands on the social media portal, you can use them directly for the Last.fm profile. This has the advantage that the recommendations can also be made without the scrobbler. In addition to current Last.fm recommendations, the profile page includes new tracks in the music collection, events near the user and free downloads. The option to subscribe to the free downloads via iTunes is particularly interesting. In this case, a stream will be downloaded that can be played through iTunes.
Hit Lists, Statistics And Friends
Every user can create hit lists or playlists on Last.fm and manage them via the music collection. To create a playlist, all you have to do is click on "Your Profile" and then click on the "Playlists" tab. Then you can use the "Add a new title" function to search for the desired track and add it to the list. The hit list can be forwarded to friends or exported. Friends and like-minded people can contact Last.fm via Facebook, Gmail or Yahoo. Detailed statistics on their own profile are reserved for premium users who pay a monthly fee.
Advantages And Disadvantages
The Last.fm radio can unfortunately only be used for 50 tracks, after which you have to pay 3 US dollars or euros per month. The package includes free and unlimited access to the radio stations, ad-free surfing on the Last.fm portal, visitor statistics from your own profile and access to the VIP area, where you can get even more statistics about Last.fm. The main disadvantage of Last.fm is the fact that you have to pay a subscription to listen to the radio. After all, all other functions are currently free.
What Last.fm Is Suitable For
Due to the individually and personalized tailored profile, only taste-related music is heard. As a result, it can happen that the user is no longer confronted with new or different music and does not involve any further musical development.
The analysis of usage behavior makes people transparent (what is being heard, when is it being heard, how much is being heard, favorite songs) and everything is visible on the profiles. It is a pure music recommendation platform that does not have its own streaming service and is dependent on external music playback programs.
It is critical to assess the fact that, in addition to Facebook, there is another provider on the Internet that stores such amounts of personal data, can evaluate it for itself and perhaps sell it to third parties. In the meantime, there were repeated rumors that the data was passed on to large music companies so that they could use the data for their studies of the listening behavior of certain groups of people. These allegations have not been fully proven and some users also question what would be so bad if their data fell into other hands. However, many users make it clear on the Internet that they do not agree with the handling of data.
When To Use Last.fm
Personal Use:
- Recommendations tailored to the user, based on the listener's music usage behavior.
- Contact with other users with a similar taste in music.
- All scrobbled songs are summarized and displayed in a list.
- Reflection on one's own usage behavior (when which music was heard).
- Unknown songs, artists or albums can be discovered by tagging or recommending others.
- Integration of numerous music streaming services possible.
The platform is designed to be relatively uncomplicated, contains all common artists and styles of music and also offers the possibility to network with users with similar musical tastes. In addition, there are also suitable event and concert recommendations. Most music streaming services are integrated and it is therefore possible to bring together all the songs heard on a single platform and keep track of them.
Last.fm offers several features that are important to music lovers. It takes their music experience to a greater level. If you consider creating a mobile app similar to Last.fm, you should contact a top mobile app development agency such as Hyperlink InfoSystem. The development of an app similar to Last.fm will cost $6000 on the average.