en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/group/cops+and+robbers/journal The Last.fm group journal for cops and robbers. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/samsaunders/journal/2010/04/19/3krbv7_last.fm%27s_last_straw_for_me Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:24:21 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/samsaunders/journal/2010/04/19/3krbv7_last.fm%27s_last_straw_for_me I actually pay a subscription to last.fm and have done since I first joined five years ago. I am thinking about ending that, leaving the group I lead and deleting my profile.

Although I am a subscriber I have had no specific message about the radical changes that have been instituted this month. The last lot were bad enough. The blog and forum entries that describe what has happened are interminable and hard to follow, filled as they are with evasion and obscurantism.

As far as I can tell, last.fm are giving up the simple practice of taking audio uploads from anyone who wants to have a platform. The essence of last.fm will be reduced to providing data for interested parties about "customers".

If I have got this badly wrong, I would be very grateful for any clear and well-informed correction.

I fear that this will turn out to be a massive failure of independent music to create a cooperative space of its own, where an "alternative to capitalism" could flourish.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/samsaunders/journal/2010/04/19/3krbv7_last.fm%27s_last_straw_for_me#comments