O Last.FM, radio and online music community, is one of the services that best illustrates what the Internet is today and an idea that I have been defending for years: the release of the browser.
This may appear in counter-cycle against the current current of cloud computing and browser applications but actually it is not. What I mean is that it is important to realize that on the Web desktop release should not mean an interface transfer to the browser but a total release of the Interface.
What Web 2.0 brought us was exactly this ability to abstract data and functionality. In doing so, the web interface becomes obvious but... it's not exclusive.
Last.FM, as a service and application, has everything: social network, web, non-web, desktop, mobile applications, interfaces for third party applications, “long tail” and more.
The “audioscrobbling” of Last.FM, the soul of the service, responsible for collecting information about the music we heard and transferring to Last. Fm for creating profiles that allow the service to suggest songs according to our tastes, is (almost) public domain. Any application can use it (today there are plugins for Microsoft Media Player, iTunes, iPod/iPhone, Songbird, Amarok, etc.). And this makes the use, information and potential future grow.
If you want to use Last.FM, of course I can use the Desktop app. But I can access via Browser or use my favorite music app. Or use them all. And if it weren't for mobile operators' myopia, Last.FM would be a serious candidate for the mobile app of choice.
In addition to the application, the Last.FM and the business models it is developing have been growing slowly, without haste or alarm. And while the Sonys, Warners, Universals, EMIs and BMGs of life shout at the state of the music industry, against MP3, Bittorrents, eMule, and piracy in general, Last.FM is part of what is designed as the future of the Music Industry and designs a business model based on distribution but with a “long tail” perspective. A future with fewer middlemen and musicians closest to those who listen.
It will be very interesting to watch the development of these new applications and new business models, especially in areas that were thought to be mature.
I believe in Last.FM from the beginning. And I believe that Last.FM is much more than an application or musical service, and will redefine the future of the music industry.
Point that I said that.
