Last.fm users can still stream music from Warner's artists via their artist-based radio stations (see below), because those songs are licensed under a different deal. However, Last.fm users will no longer be able to stream songs on-demand from albums Neil Young, Nickelback, Death Cab for Cutie, or any other artist recorded for the label, as Silicon Alley Insider discovered.
“I can confirm that our music is no longer available on the service," a Warner Music Group spokeswoman told Listening Post via e-mail.
In our efforts to include music on the Listening Post blog, we've ended up turning to imeem more than Last.fm, because Last.fm doesn't allow single-song embedding, and imeem seems to have more on-demand music. And that was before the Warner deal fell through. Now, imeem, MySpace, Napster and YouTube could become more attractive to users, because each of them still has the label's music free and on-demand.
Most likely, Warner either wants more money or an equity stake in Last.fm similar to the ones it has in imeem and MySpace. CBS purchased Last.fm for $280 million; it's possible that Warner, as the first label to make a deal for on-demand music with Last.fm, expected to see its ship come in, so to speak.
Last.fm had earlier pointed to the availability of free, on-demand music on its site as having had a promotional effect on sales, increasing them 58 percent. Apparently, Warner doesn't care much about that, and would prefer to get paid more for on-demand playback than Last.fm (a division of CBS) was willing to pay.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
