Last.fm goes bye bye...

[thelake]

Today we’re announcing an upcoming change to the way Last.fm Radio works in some parts of the world. In the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, nothing will change.

In all other countries, listening to Last.fm Radio will soon require a subscription of €3.00 per month.

http://blog.last.fm/2009/03/24/lastfm-radio-announcement

This is the only thing on internet that drives me crazy. Country discrimination!

These are the countries in which we have the most resources to support an ad sales organization, which is how we earn money to pay artists and labels for their music. We are focused on the US, UK, and Germany as key markets, with the help of the CBS Interactive salesforce and our own sales team here in London. Our headquarters are in the UK and we’ve always had a strong presence in DE.

And so we’ve made the decision to focus on these markets for free streaming radio. We are still available worldwide and while listening is subscription, all the other rich content on the site is still free.

Excuse me but even though I pay 3$ per month I can't get the whole service because I'm living outside of US/UK/Germany. So does this mean all the other people will have to pay 3$ per month so the 3 lucky countries can have free services?! That is outrageous.

I hate the "this feature/video/service is not available for your country" message more than anythng else, and now this happens.

Q&A for users outside the US, UK or Germany

Q. When does this go into effect?
A: We are currently planning to switch to subscription radio outside the US, UK, and Germany on Monday, March 30.

Q. What happens if I’m already a subscriber, or I buy a subscription before March 30th?
A. Your subscription will continue to be valid and automatically gain Last.fm Radio functionality after the switch. Existing subscribers don’t need to change anything.

Q. Does this affect listening to previews or full length tracks?
A. No.

Q&A for users in the US, UK or Germany

Q. Will I be affected by the changes to Last.fm Radio?
A. No!

I've been having a constant proxy problem with my desktop player for over 3 days now, maybe it was about this, I'm not sure. But they say it's gonna be officially in service on March 30th. Whatever.

*goes through the comments and chooses good stuff for you*

Just connect through proxy which is located @ those 3 mentioned countries. ftw

Pricey and difficult to establish. Not reliable at the least.

And I'm sorry but what else is out there for free users except for the radio? We can't listen to full tracks and what is the use of scrobbler when I don't have the right to listen to similiar artists/songs as a result of my scrobbling?

Those companies can do so much better with thinking a lot more into it, but limiting the access by country is the easiest and worst way to go. That is exactly why people keep downloading illegaly.

Comments

[awakencordy.livejournal.com]

holy shit. i am angry, really. *şimdi eve girebildi ancak bir de trafiğe kızgın zaten* i mean, sony is paying for the tracks already for worldwide, why limiting it to turkey? cause we people should pay for them moıre, right.

like they are building a highway road to here ffs.
eta: iconumu da değiştiririm hatta.

[thelake.livejournal.com]

LOL benim o iconu poster yapıp ofiste masamın her yanına asmam lazım.

[sakuracorr.livejournal.com]

That sucks! :(

Though I did use a transparent proxy to gain access to BBC stuff once, they fail a lot and there's usually a downside of some sort. :\

[thelake.livejournal.com]

and why should I feel the need to use proxies and such? that is the main question.
it's just so awful to be discriminated.

[sakuracorr.livejournal.com]

I know, you completely shouldn't have to. At least in the Beebs case, it's apparently partially funded by the tv free they have to pay in the UK or something like that. *hugs*

[misirlikedi.livejournal.com]

nefret nefret nefret ediyorum.. sanki yeterince ayrımcılık yokmuş gibi bi de nette başladılar..

buna en kısa çözüm olarak ip değiştiren programları öneriyorum, hayır dns değil vs değil, yamulmuyorsam bildiğin .exe olup da ipni istediğin ülkeden gösteren programlar var.. tehlikeli olduklarını da sanmıyorum..

bulunamıyorsa bulabilirim..

son olarak bunlar böyle yaptıkça korsanlığa evet derim giderim buralardan..

[thelake.livejournal.com]

abi o televizyon kanalları online dizi izleme olayını bütün dünya ülkelerine açsalar torrent kullanımı falan yarıya düşer! ben amerikadayken hiç dizi indirmezdim. gayet açardım hangi kanalsa oradan izlerdim, hem rating'ine yardımcı oluyorsun, hem illegal iş yapmıyorsun, hem de daha kaliteli izliyorsun!

bağlantı hızımız da yüksek, öyle dial up değiliz thank god, ama işte insanlar salak.

onun masrafı var bilmemnesi var tabii doğal olarak, servis ücreti olsun bandwidth olsun DA YANİ! BANA NE! korsandan daha çok para kaybediyorlar. sonra vır vır yok efendim indirmeyin, satın alın.. lan ne satın alacam, elin amerikası her şeyi beleşe izliyor, dinliyor, bir ben mi safım!?

[nowgold.livejournal.com]

oh that really bugs me, especially when i would have to pay so those other countries get it for free, and they are the main users. wouldn't it be fairer to just make everyone pay $1?

[thelake.livejournal.com]

everybody thinks the same. I mean, yeah if it's really the way to go, we should all pay 1$ instead of paying 3$ for other "main users" sake!

[katayla.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's really disappointing. I think it's a real problem with the internet, charging fees for different countries, not having videos available for all countries . . . the internet is such a globa community that things like this feel so wrong!

[thelake.livejournal.com]

and they keep promoting against piracy. if only all the networks provide online streaming globally piracy with TV shows would decrease 50%. I am sure sure of it.

[katayla.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. Even if they add in commercials, I'd take the legal option when there's a choice.

[aftersix.livejournal.com]

I hate the "this feature/video/service is not available for your country" message more than anythng else, and now this happens.

I know!! You have no idea how many times I've wished I live in the USA. They seem to always get it easy. *sigh* Total discrimination!

[thelake.livejournal.com]

I know! I just hate it! First Pandora, now Last.fm. I don't even start with all those networks who disabled online streaming of TV shows outside the US. it's not fair at all.

[rawthorne.livejournal.com]

Well. That just makes me glad I don't use Last.fm anymore.

[thelake.livejournal.com]

That's a very good decision. I'll follow suit...