Last.fm is shutting down its subscription music service

sincity · March 26, 2014

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Last.fm has announced that it's shutting down its subscription streaming radio service beginning April 28.

The company wrote in its forums that the ever-changing music industry landscape is to blame, and that Last.fm will now focus on scrobbling, music discovery and recommendations.

Last.fm users on iOS can still use the scrobbling app to track their listening and create playlists, and the company will continue to offer free, ad-supported streaming radio stations through the Last.fm player.

But Last.fm will no longer stream any music from its own servers, instead relying on third parties like YouTube and Spotify. And it seems Android users are out of luck after April.

Bad news, eh?

It seems Last.fm's subscription service just couldn't cut it in the face of competition from the likes of Spotify and Pandora.

No doubt many listeners will be disappointed, though perhaps none more so than users in Canada, for whom "Last.fm was the only decent service available," according to one commenter on Last.fm announcement.

Other commenters expressed disappointment and promised to cancel their subscriptions in protest.

"Over ten years, our goal has always been to allow people around the world to discover new music with as few limitations or restrictions as possible," Last.fm said.

"However, the music landscape has changed considerably during that time and we've been forced to make some very difficult decisions surrounding our core products and services."