Delving further into the world of “social platforms,” CBS this week bought Last.fm, described as a community-based music discovery network. The cost: $280 million.
Last.fm has 15 million active users globally, the company stated. “This acquisition follows a number of CBS Interactive announcements including the purchase of Wallstrip.com, investments in Joost and Spot Runner and the recent expansion of the CBS Audience Network to include a total of 25 online partners.”
CBS said Last.fm’s demographics fit its goals to attract younger viewers and listeners and to transition from being a content company to an “audience company.” Last.fm management will continue to run the online network; they describe their user base as “predominately young, engaged and very involved on the site.”
Last.fm was founded five years ago. What does it do?
“Through its unique ‘scrobbling’ technology and social recommendation engine, Last.fm builds a comprehensive profile of each user’s musical taste and leverages each user’s song list to make highly personalized recommendations, connect users who share similar tastes, provide custom radio streams and other music related community features,” according to the company.
