London – Last.fm, the music streaming service owned by CBS (NYSE: CBS),
announced on Monday that it will begin charging a subscription fee for the
version of its radio service streamed to mobile and home entertainment devices.
These offerings had remained free in the U.S., U.K. and Germany when Last.fm
began charging for them in other territories last March.
The company noted that
its other offerings, including its Web-based service, will remain free, as will
streaming to Windows Mobile 7 smartphones and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
"On
the Last.fm website an ad-supported, free-to-listeners model is what supports
our online radio services in the US, UK and Germany," the company wrote on
its blog.
"In other markets and on emerging mobile and home entertainment
devices, it is not practical for us to deliver an ad supported radio
experience, but instead, we will migrate to what we believe is the highest
quality, lowest cost ad-free music service in the world."
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/642grsl
(Last.fm blog)
