Media

Sara Kimberley, mediaweek.co.uk, 27 October 2009, 07:00am

Last.FM gears up for debut of online television service

Last.FM, the online music broadcaster acquired in 2007 by CBS for $280m, is set to expand into TV with the launch of Last.TV.

The launch of the online TV service is part of CBS Interactive’s bid to expand the Last.FM brand globally, on and offline. Over the next year, it is planning to expand the brand in the UK and Europe through festivals, by either creating its own or linking up with an existing festival.

Last.TV is planned for a January launch and would be accessible via the Last.FM site and, possibly, via a stand-alone website. Presenter-led Last.TV will feature live acts performing in planned new CBS studios.

David Goodman, president of CBS Interactive Music Group, said Last.FM was looking for a sponsor for the TV service.

Other commercial opportunities would include pre and post-roll video ads.

Last.TV’s launch would mark an evolution in Last.FM’s business model: from static display ads on the site to video ads. Last.FM is free to use in the US, UK and Germany and charges users outside these countries after 30 days of free use.

Facing increased competition in the online music streaming music space against the likes of Spotify, We7, Sky Music and MySpace, Last FM wants to increase its presence.

It wants to align itself more closely with sister company CBS Outdoor to leverage its capabilities, for example by running campaigns across the two companies.

Last.FM is also launching its first offline station in the US. It will feature live performances and interviews from the Last.FM studios in New York.

In 2007, CBS Corporation acquired Last.FM from founders Martin Stiksel, Felix Miller and Richard Jones, who all left the company in June.

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All Comments

Dave Gurney, Operations Director, Alchemetrics - 30 October 2009

As users log on to Last.TV, the brand is presented with a major opportunity to collect data, which can drive understanding of this valuable demographic. Last.TV could use this data to improve its marketing and audience acquisition strategy, and make it available to partners and advertisers, delivering a valuable revenue stream. However, it's vital for the brand to consider a dynamic form of data collection; users may well log on regularly, but will be less inclined to share information on themselves if they are continually asked the same questions. Instead, the questions served need to be based on what is already known about individual users, and then according to the data collection priorities of Last.TV's marketing team or of its advertisers, unlocking a rich vein of customer insight.