Unfortunately, starting on the 15th January of 2013, the rules of the game are changing. For users from the U.S., Britain and Germany internet radio service will be available only by subscription (until now it was free). Canadians, Brazilians, Irish, Australians and New Zealanders will also need to have a subscription to the radio; for them this does not change anything. To all others - so long suckers. The last.fm radio in other countries won’t be available regardless of the existence of a subscription and the only explanation Last.fm gave was restrictions on their license. Translated, the big publishing houses finally got things where they want it.

Other subscription benefits, such as removing ads, being able to see who visited your profile and access to the section Playground, where you can find various experimental tools for the study of music, will remain available to existing and new subscribers, but it is poor consolation to those who chose to subscribe primarily due radio. A one-click subscription refund button was added to the site which clearly shows that Last.fm is aware they will lose a lot of subscribers due to these changes.

Do you think Last.Fm is being pressured to make these changes, or are they cutting back to save money? Tell us in our Forum