last.fm
Music has a way of completely transforming our daily experiences and altering our moods. It can help enhance activities, especially ones that are not all too pleasant, to begin with. With the right playlist going, work becomes more bearable. Exercise becomes less painful. And boredom becomes entertaining.
I know that music is important to you, and I am sure that you feel the same way about it as I do. It is truly the universal language, one that is capable of cutting deeper and more viscerally than any combination of words and sentence structures. It is a language that is, quite literally, felt. The language of the heart.
This is why there are a lot of music streaming services, websites, and apps to choose from these days. It's a good thing - we have lots of options to choose from and different ways to enjoy music. But it can also be frustrating - maybe there are too many choices, which means it can be hard to find the right one.
And that's the key to this whole thing. With many of these music streaming services, the issue isn't so much about which one is better, because most of them (at least the well-known ones) are all meticulously crafted with the intent to be widely used. The better way to approach this conundrum is to ask yourself: which music streaming service is right for me? Once you start thinking about it that way, then picking a music streaming service becomes easier.
Let's talk about what you think would make the best music streaming app for you. Do you need a lot of songs to choose from? Is exclusive content important to you? Maybe you're looking for a platform that has high-quality sound? In that case, Tidal might be the best option for you.
If you're the kind of person who enjoys personalized playlists that have been generated by an algorithm, Spotify might be the streaming service for you. Finding the right service, at the end of the day, is all about figuring out what you like and then finding out which site caters to your specific needs.
Do you happen to be someone who is often referred to as "type-A"? If so, you might enjoy charts, graphs, and being able to visualize data. Maybe the best part of using Spotify, if you've done so, in your opinion is the end of the year recap of your listening habits.
If you're like me, you enjoy knowing what others are listening to. If that's the case, I think you'll love Last.fm. It's a music streaming service that lets you know what songs are being listened to around the world.
History
The two websites Last.fm and Audioscrobbler became one in 2005.
Audioscrobbler was originally a school project completed by Richard Jones while attending the University of South Hampton School of Electronics and Computer Science. Jones defined the term "scrobbling" as discovering, processing, and distributing numerical information involving people, music, and more.
Last.fm was founded by four music lovers from Germany and Austria in 2002. It was meant to be an online radio station and a musically oriented social network on which similar music profiles would be used to generate personalized playlists. The site quickly rose to acclaim, winning Europix in 2002 and nabbing a nomination for the Prix Arts Electronica in 2003.
In 2003, the Audioscrobbler and Last.fm teams began to collaborate closely. This resulted in Audioscrobbler profiles being integrated with Last.fm, and eventually an Audioscrobbler plugin was added to the Last.fm website. The merger between the two technologies was finalized on August 9th, 2005 when the Audioscrobbler domain name was fully merged into Last.fm.
Today Audioscrobbler's visual data capabilities have helped Last.fm stand a whole new site. A brand-new site unlike any other to come before it has emerged, a form of radio that is the end all radio. The true last FM station you'll ever need.
Design
Upon arrival on Last.fm, it will be immediately obvious that the site's designers are brilliant experts in their field. The site is visually stunning - Last.fm manages to be extremely easy to navigate and intuitive, while also looking unlike any other music streaming site on the web. Everything is very clearly defined, cleanly organized, and intuitive. Plus, the understated black, white, and red theme to the layout gives the site a sleek and professional look.
I really like the fact that the audio player lives in a very narrow bar, always at the top of the page, on Last.fm. It's convenient to be able to pause and skip forward, backward, or ?love? a track with just one click.
To the right of this, you'll find everything else you need to navigate around to the various sections of the site: Home, Live, Music, Charts, Events, Features, and your account options. I don't believe I've found a better-designed in-browser music streaming site yet.
Content
Last.fm is a music streaming service that has several features that make it unique among the plethora of services out there. The first feature that stands out to me is just how social the site is. It's a part social network, part music streaming service, and it truly combines all our favorite online pastimes into one neat package.
Your Last.fm profile is your musical calling card and it has all the answers to what music you are into. The site goes on to say that when someone asks, "What music are you into?" your profile has all the information they need.
Members of the Last.fm community remind potential users that Last.fm makes it possible to connect with like-minded music lovers by linking up with their profiles. This way, you can actually discuss your favorite artists, albums, festivals, tracks, etc. with other members of the Last.fm community.
But outside of the social aspects, Last.fm also allows you to visually represent your listening habits in fun, informative ways - providing you with accurate insights into where exactly you fall on the musical spectrum.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
Unfortunately, there is not a full-fledged Last.fm app on which you can listen to music. There is a Last.fm Audioscrobbler app, however, which allows you to view your listening data. But it doesn't do much beyond that. In my opinion, a fully functional app is all that Last.fm needs to push them to the top of the music streaming services list.
Pricing and Plans
Last.fm offers two subscription options: the free, basic service and Last.fm Pro. The paid subscription service is one of the cheapest on the market, at only $3.00 per month. However, it is important to note that Last.fm doesn't have quite as many songs available as, say, Spotify. For that $3.00 charge per month, you get ad-free listening and browsing, as well as tons of advanced data and 'scrobbling' options not available to free users. Oh, and 30% off all Last.fm merchandise - not a bad deal if you ask me!
Suggestions that I have for Last.fm
Dear Last.fm,
I know you're probably busy working on developing new features for your website and app, but I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy using the Last.fm service. It would be really great if you could release an app so that I can use it on my phone too! Thanks!
Conclusion
All in all, I think Last.fm has the potential to be one of the best streaming services out there. They have a great design and layout, interesting music selection, data, and social networking features, as well as a high level of brand recognition. It's good as it is now, but I hope it continues to grow and evolve in the years to come!
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