CBS buys Last.fm for $280 million

Steve Safran May 30th, 2007

CBS has laid out $280 million in cash for the UK-based Last.fm, a music social network. Last.fm has 15 million active users, and has a search engine that analyzes what you listen to and then makes recommendations for playlists, creates personalized radio stations and connects you with members who share your tastes. (They call the tech “Scrobbling.”) But what about the debate over internet radio fees? From ZDNet:

… while CBS may have just acquired a social-media site that’s managed to stay clean in regards to copyright, the congressional debate over a scheduled increase in royalties paid by Internet radio sites will undoubtedly come into play soon. CBS has a big enough purse to pay those royalty fees, but such a situation would make Last.fm less profitable.

(Via TechCrunch)