Building the Next Last.fm

Wednesday, 21 May 2008
by flaneur
filed under Announcements
Comments: 122

Since 2002, Last.fm’s determined team of music lovers has been on a mission to make online music easier, better and more discoverable.

We’re still working as hard as ever halfway through 2008, laying the foundations for a next-generation Last.fm. We’ve modernised the Audioscrobbler engine that powers the site, and have been exploring new ideas aligned with the different ways music on the internet works today.


(From the Flickr set Building Last.fm)

Calling all subscribers

This is where you come in. One of our goals is to make all the world’s music available to everyone, and a more accessible service is a big part of that. But we certainly can’t create it without your help and input.

So, rough edges and all, we want all you subscribers — Last.fm’s ambassadors, if you will — to have first crack at the newest version of Last.fm. And we’d love to hear not just what you think, but what the less initiated Last.fm users around you think too.

What’s new? A whole lot, but here are few highlights:

The library. Your entire Last.fm music profile made visible, down to every last artist and track. Add to it by scrobbling or with the click of a button. Browse it, play it, and get new music recommendations based on it.

Real-time charts. Yes, finally! Every track you scrobble gets added to all of your charts. Instantly. No more waiting for Sunday and praying to the chart gods…

Plus… Activity feeds, all-new visual styles, an improved music player, sharing, podcasts, and more.

We’re only getting started, but feel free to have a play, give us your feedback, and help spot bugs.

We’ll be expanding the beta and opening it up to more users in the coming weeks. In the meantime, subscribers can find out how to access the beta site now at the Last.fm Beta Group.

Comments

  1. Anthony V
    21 May, 11:33

    Exciting! Congratulations!

    Anthony V – 21 May, 11:33
  2. Roel van der Ven
    21 May, 11:36

    Wow guys, waiting so much to see this. Really exciting! hops over to beta site

    Roel van der Ven – 21 May, 11:36
  3. Martin
    21 May, 11:37

    I love the way this site continues to grow and offer me new stuff, even after so many years. Keep it up guys.

    Martin – 21 May, 11:37
  4. Matt
    21 May, 11:38

    Wow, it certainly looks different. Have to try this out.

    Matt – 21 May, 11:38
  5. Tom
    21 May, 11:48

    I think I just orgasmed!

    Tom – 21 May, 11:48
  6. Japie
    21 May, 11:51

    To tell you the truth, I hope this: http://beta.last.fm/home is the functional design that was HTML-ified and the not the current state of design. Are you kidding?

    No, but seriously. I know you are convinced that Last.fm as a radio station is the way to go for the future, but I’m one of the ‘hardcore’ Last.fm people that just enjoys having a profile with an Overall Top Artists chart that I’ve worked two years on to achieve. I enjoy talking with people about music, having Now it seems that the entire interaction is forced towards listening to radio, and I feel that a great deal of your current member total will feel underserved and overwhelmed.

    And concerning the design… You have such a signature design with the red (or black). Now it just looks like any other 2.0 startup. The interaction design is nice though, very shockingly different but I think I’m beginning to like the idea of the Library etc.

    Good luck on mapping out everything, though! I’m sure you’ll find the right way. Just don’t forget about us social networking geeks…!

    Japie – 21 May, 11:51
  7. Japie
    21 May, 11:56

    Oh, and just one more thing. I know this sounds silly, but waiting until sunday for your weekly charts was a good thing! It was an experience at least. Before the lagging-until-monday became so frequent, I would have all my Last.fm friends drop by on Mondays to see what my charts were like. It was something to do on Monday morning.

    All good things to those who wait…

    Japie – 21 May, 11:56
  8. Japie
    21 May, 12:01

    But oh, well, now I’m sounding very naggy and negative. Maybe I was a little too eager pointing out flaws.

    I do think it’s time for a change, and I do love your enthusiasm and attention for detail when it comes to maintaining Last.fm. I’m sure this new Generation of Last.fm will turn out wonderful. I was just trying to throw some constructive criticism your way to help you with the process… :)

    Japie – 21 May, 12:01
  9. GTStar
    21 May, 12:08

    Sounds very good! I’m waiting to see the result (also as an non-subscriber) :)

    GTStar – 21 May, 12:08
  10. GTStar
    21 May, 12:10

    @Japie: I don’t think that there won’t be weekly charts in the future – but maybe you will see them grow day-by-day then?

    GTStar – 21 May, 12:10
  11. Matthew Ogle
    21 May, 12:10

    @Japie:

    Not at all, thanks for the feedback! :)

    Matthew Ogle – 21 May, 12:10
  12. Adriaan
    21 May, 12:42

    Oh no!!!!

    Not before midyear exams!!!!

    Should I sign up now and fail, or miss out on this and pass??

    DIFFICULT DECISION!!

    Adriaan – 21 May, 12:42
  13. Nicklas
    21 May, 12:59

    It looks a bit empty to me, especially the new dashboard. I think I’m gonna miss the list of that my friends listened to a few minutes or an hour ago.

    Nicklas – 21 May, 12:59
  14. dudge
    21 May, 13:07

    I love beta time.

    I thought I might have lost my afternoon to exploring but (un)fortunately the site says “We’re sorry, the Last.fm beta doesn’t support Internet Explorer yet.”

    So it looks like I’ll have to work instead.

    Thanks.

    dudge – 21 May, 13:07
  15. Adriaan
    21 May, 13:26

    Will we be able to import feed stories into Facebook? Or do they charge sites for that privilege?

    Adriaan – 21 May, 13:26
  16. Niklas Froese
    21 May, 13:32

    Honestly, at first I was a negatively surprised. Cause the Layout looks a lot like many other sites around these days. I always thought the Last.fm Layout was very unique and formed your identity as a webservice But still, nice new functions, I’m looking forward to how it develops.
    Btw. I just posted a review in German at:

    niklasfroese.de

    If you like, check it out. I wasn’t really sure if i was allowed to post a screenshot, since not everyone is allowed to access the site. Please let me know, if i should take it off.

    But anyway, great job so far, keep on good work! Cheers, Niklas

    Niklas Froese – 21 May, 13:32
  17. Regis
    21 May, 13:35

    Wow. I can’t wait to see this new version…

    Regis – 21 May, 13:35
  18. Kimiko
    21 May, 13:50

    Yay for new stuff to look at and comment on! I’ve already sent in a few feedbacks :)

    Kimiko – 21 May, 13:50
  19. Lukasz
    21 May, 13:53

    Some of my Overall Artists stats are different on last.fm and beta.last.fm. Why?

    BTW Nice change guys :)

    Lukasz – 21 May, 13:53
  20. Bryn
    21 May, 14:14

    yeah gotta say I’m a big fan of the new layout and functionality.

    I agree that the lean towards the radio is not something I personally agree with, but as a long-time user of last.fm I have to say that almost all my friends who’ve started using it over the last year or so love the radio and listen to it on a regular basis. Maybe us old-skool Audioscrobblers are just threatened by change :p

    keep up the good work and I’m very excited to see a full roll-out of this implementation

    Bryn – 21 May, 14:14
  21. dacmail
    21 May, 14:18

    You are my idols. The best (only) social music network ever.

    Me encanta el nuevo look! I’m loving it :D

    dacmail – 21 May, 14:18
  22. GTStar
    21 May, 14:29

    @Niklas: Danke für den Einblick :)

    GTStar – 21 May, 14:29
  23. Kathy
    21 May, 14:37

    Just checked it out. It looks great, and it seems to load faster than the current version, too.

    Kathy – 21 May, 14:37
  24. kevin
    21 May, 14:41

    it would be great to see integration with rhapsody similar to what mogg did – i would love to have even MORE access to full-length music, especially when I’m already paying for it, and i would LOVE to be able to scrob my listening patterns from rhapsody

    kevin – 21 May, 14:41
  25. theanswer
    21 May, 14:41

    real time charts are too good to be true

    theanswer – 21 May, 14:41
  26. Lock
    21 May, 14:43

    Looking forward to it!

    Lock – 21 May, 14:43
  27. mosquitokillah
    21 May, 16:43

    woohoo, orgasmic!

    mosquitokillah – 21 May, 16:43
  28. ekto
    21 May, 17:21

    The Real Time charts and Library are the best changes. I liked the new design as well

    ekto – 21 May, 17:21
  29. gingerweir
    21 May, 17:26

    Damn I want this, but no windows access? I have HUGE problems with Firefox

    gingerweir – 21 May, 17:26
  30. Kevin Spencer
    21 May, 17:31

    Wow, that looks, er, different. I found myself nodding with Japio regarding the change in look. last.fm had such a good look n’ feel and now it seems like you’re trying to go all (shudder) Facebook. I keep flicking back and forth between my current and beta profiles and I’ve gotta say that I think I like the old one better. Time will tell, maybe the new one will grow on me.

    On my beta profile it seems like there’s some wasted real estate now that the ‘About Me’ section is in the middle of the page instead of over in the left hand column. Seems kinda empty and whitespacey. I guess we’ll all just have to adjust to that and create a new ‘About Me’ section geared towards a larger amount of screen real estate.

    Yay for real time charts although there was something all rather endearing about checking out your mate’s stats on a Monday morning. Might end up missing that ;-)

    Kevin Spencer – 21 May, 17:31
  31. themariner
    21 May, 17:51

    definitely an adjustment but i’m diggin it. now with this revamp, will there be a new api as well?

    themariner – 21 May, 17:51
  32. C26000
    21 May, 18:19

    Very good new features: Library, Activities Feed, Real Time Charts and Shoutbox Total History.

    But… I don’t like the new design and layout, I miss the shadows and gradients :( , it looks kinda flat and boring without them.

    I feel that you are trying to become something like ilike + facebook, leaving a bit out the serious music listener and trying to catch a more mainstream ignorant user, I understand that, the money is in the mainstream, you can’t be blamed for that. Anyway keep the good work !

    Edit:

    oh! I just noticed you dropped the tag clouds in the artists pages!! :’(

    C26000 – 21 May, 18:19
  33. RJ
    21 May, 18:21

    You know, you can still pretend the charts only update on sundays – just don’t look at them ‘till then :)

    User page still needs some work, don’t worry it won’t stay quite so barren for long.

    RJ – 21 May, 18:21
  34. Norman Casagrande
    21 May, 18:22

    Maybe I should also point out that we now have real-time recommendations too. As soon as you listen to an artist they will change accordingly. ;-)

    Norman Casagrande – 21 May, 18:22
  35. Kimiko
    21 May, 19:36

    Will neighbors update instantly too? That’d be neat.

    And if this is what Facebook looks like, then I don’t like Facebook :þ
    Please, I want the ‘Last.fm Red’ (#D01F3C or thereabouts; the one used in the logo) color and logo back prominently. And the ‘Subscriber Blue’ color (#4971A9) too.

    Kimiko – 21 May, 19:36
  36. Amr Hassan
    21 May, 20:01

    this has to be the start of something.. AMAZING..
    the new colors just need a little getting used to, i was on the black theme for last.fm ever since i signed up! it’s a little too bright for my eyes. but great work guys, nonetheless..

    Amr Hassan – 21 May, 20:01
  37. tante
    21 May, 21:03

    I’ve made a few screenshots and notes on my blog for those that don’t have access to the beta side.

    All in all I like the new approach. It’s less cluttered and better structured, the new library view is really awesome and actually a great new way of considering “all the tracks I ever heard”, I love how I can dig into it.

    The bigger pictures of recommended artists and other things all over the page does really help, too.

    tante – 21 May, 21:03
  38. Leonardo
    21 May, 22:53

    I can’t wait to see ;)

    Leonardo – 21 May, 22:53
  39. Sunil
    21 May, 23:22

    Sounds great. :)

    Sunil – 21 May, 23:22
  40. Babs
    21 May, 23:23

    I love beta time.

    The new Dashboard look is a nice, simple design, but like the new bbc.co.uk, it’s not as informative as the existing one. The BBC are currently redesigning their new look after users complained. I think all their feedback is still available to see.

    I like the little heart in Recently Played. That was the best feature of iLike. (the only thing it has going for it, imo).

    My Playlist doesn’t have to have such high billing ‘above the fold’. As much as I love My Playlist, there are a whole bunch of other tag radios I listen to more frequently. The way I’ve organised my existing Profile, I can find them quickly, without much scrolling. On the new design, they’re further down. That’s annoying. I can’t change their placement.

    Journals box should be above Events. Reason: journals get more activity. So far down the page is annoying. The new design isn’t looking as usable as the existing.

    Most of the new beta Profile is given to our About Me. Great for artists and people self-promoting, but for the vast majority of us users, not so good.

    Comments are all the way at the end of the page! That’s astonishing given the biggest and best aspect of Last.fm is the social networking. What are they doing all the way down there? And why have they all been kept? I’ve got 135 pages of shoutboxes…

    I use Last.fm in black. I like the colours of the new one.

    Don’t know what to make of Library. It looks like my existing overall chart with added pics. The existing chart, a simple list, tells people more than a small range of pics, I think. There are only 18 pics to a page, then we have to click to the next one. Fine if we’ve got all day to browse. The way our charts are now, I can get someone’s top 50 in 1 or 2 seconds. I have 314 pages in My Library. I wouldn’t browse my own let alone anyone else’s! It seems to me someone thought the way friends are organised in MySpace would be good to apply to our charts.

    That said, I’ll use the beta for a couple of days, see how I go. :)

    Babs – 21 May, 23:23
  41. fergusmcphail
    21 May, 23:32

    The old look was cool. This new one… Hmmmm… The phrase “dumbing down” springs to mind. Perhaps I’ll get used to it in time.

    fergusmcphail – 21 May, 23:32
  42. Babs
    21 May, 23:48

    I’ll send my feedback the proper way, via the new beta site.

    I really like that you’re asking us!

    Babs – 21 May, 23:48
  43. gokachu
    22 May, 00:58

    II haven’t checked the new features yet, but I am sure they are great. The design is really bad though, it lacks all the cozy and elegant feeling I am used to get when I enter last.fm. The beta looks like a cold site of news or somthing like that.

    And the new player looks a bit like the Myspace one, and thay’s not cool at all!

    gokachu – 22 May, 00:58
  44. Babs
    22 May, 01:21

    There are aspects of the new design I like but overall, the existing design is far better.

    Babs – 22 May, 01:21
  45. Aaron
    22 May, 03:25

    Just glanced at what someone demo’d on their blog, I actually like the colors, it’s a nice change of pace from the norm here.

    Aaron – 22 May, 03:25
  46. smimarchie
    22 May, 11:44

    is there anything to allow you to play with listener data more? like tracking your month in listens as a line graph , or looking at your neighbourhood as a cluster?

    smimarchie – 22 May, 11:44
  47. empsy
    22 May, 12:58

    i can be very old fashioned, but i like the fact of waiting a week 4 charts.. :S

    Its like you have something to live for, every 7 days..

    empsy – 22 May, 12:58
  48. aliceaddict
    22 May, 13:34

    i love last.fm. its been such a great addiction over the past year and i enjoy coming on here to talk to other audio addicts about music. i’ve also discovered many great bands on here that i’ve never heard of before.

    the new features are a plus. i must admit that i was one of those people that would refresh the page a million times, chanting… did the charts update yet? did it update? update?… i can go either way with real-time charts. i didn’t really mind praying to the chart gods every sunday. ;-)

    as far as layout. noooooooo! i love the existing one so, so much. its unique in its own way unlike all the other sites that are becoming more and more generic, very flat looking. blah.

    otherwise, everything else looks so promising and i can’t wait for the changes. thank you for all that you guys do!

    aliceaddict – 22 May, 13:34
  49. GTStar
    22 May, 14:47

    Now, that I saw the screenshots on the posted blogs I have to say, that I like that there is only one menu left. I didn’t like the dichotomy profile/dashboard and I found last.fm to be to convoluted. And this seems to be skipped. Good.

    What I don’t like on the screens is that the “about me” part now is in the middle of the screen. I think I would put it on the upper right corner, above the radio.
    maybe pic and facts above and the own texts and graphics beneath the radio.

    Where I don’t know if I will like it are the colors. Like the actually red design and the new one palish. But mabe there will be more than one color scheme when it is done.

    But I like the library-idea also and hope that there will be more than 18 artists/songs on one page in the release version though I have a lot of different ones in my list.

    I cannot rate the (new) functions because I’m not a subscriber, but I believe you do a great job over there and really looking forward to use last.fm-NG.

    GTStar – 22 May, 14:47
  50. mechanesthesia
    22 May, 18:04

    Ok, I just subscribed. And I like what I am seeing so far.

    The only thing is… When you are listening to your library, there should be an “add to playlist option” as well.

    I don’t understand the “add to my library,” isn’t your library everything you listen to, so once you listen to something, isn’t it automatically added?

    mechanesthesia – 22 May, 18:04
  51. Primordeum
    22 May, 18:23

    Looks like I’m resubscribing :D

    Primordeum – 22 May, 18:23
  52. angelocirco
    22 May, 18:43

    Going over to check it out now. I’m getting excited. Thanks guys

    angelocirco – 22 May, 18:43
  53. fmera
    22 May, 19:28

    not being a subscriber, i can only comment on the few screenshots offered by one of the posters above.

    1. the left sidebar is a mistake. all that space below the tabs is empty screen space that could be better used to add width to the page layout. (the present one at least is user-customizable.) there are few enough tabs in the sidebar for both user and artist pages to fit comfortably into a horizontal navbar just below the masthead, as at present. so why not keep to that?

    2. introducing white space is a good thing if it is ‘designed’ into the layout. a lot of the white space in this beta layout seems incidental, which is bad.

    3. in the artist page, ‘similar artists’ are wedged between the artists’ profile and their videos, which doesn’t seem contextually logical.

    4. i don’t see the shoutboxes anywhere in the screenshots. i think quite a few users would prefer that recent shouts are immediately upfront upon entering their homepage.

    5. the image gallery style library is all very nice. but functionally, will it be as efficient as a simple list view?

    6. speaking of image galleries, if you find a practical use for leopard’s elegant ‘quick look’ pop-ups, cabel sasser’s fancyzoom might be worth a look. just a thought.

    7. i’m guessing the skinning comes later and we’re nowhere near seeing how the site actually looks. just keeping my fingers crossed that it will look better than the present site, because right now, it doesn’t.

    thanks for all your hard work so far!

    fmera – 22 May, 19:28
  54. Adriaan
    22 May, 21:36

    Actually, I like the new look. I think Last.fm has a fairly professional team who knows what they are doing.

    I like the new look. I hope the design doesn’t change too much.

    Also, how long is this beta thing going to go on? I might just sign up at the end of June, when I’ve finished my exams, to use the beta site. But if the beta’s just going to be stopped a few days after that, then what’s the use.

    So… any E-ETA of the post-beta phase?

    Adriaan – 22 May, 21:36
  55. Jim
    22 May, 22:59

    Yeah, but when will they FINALLY activate a feature that will allow you to ban a band instead of just a song?!?!?

    Jim – 22 May, 22:59
  56. tgpo
    22 May, 23:09

    I love the new stats and information, but the design is terrible.

    The old design is perfect, it makes you stand out from other sites. This new design looks like a copy of facebook, which is not a good thing.

    Please offer an option to use the new functions with the current design.

    tgpo – 22 May, 23:09
  57. GTStar
    22 May, 23:22

    I had an idea for the “menu – about me – left column ‘problem’”

    -> put the “about me” part back into the left column an make the menu a complete pulldown-menu above the “about me” part

    OR

    as I said before put the about me part into the right column.

    GTStar – 22 May, 23:22
  58. bruno
    22 May, 23:53

    this a welcome return to simplicity, i never really warmed up to the glossy black/red look. looking forward to using it. best, bruno

    bruno – 22 May, 23:53
  59. Jae
    23 May, 04:55

    The new site design looks like the ugly lovechild of Facebook & Myspace.

    I thought you guys were better than that. :*(

    Looks like a total ripoff. I could see myself using the site much less if it looked like this, sadly.

    The current site design is brilliant, pretty please leave it be?

    The new features, however, sound awesome. :)

    Jae – 23 May, 04:55
  60. deelirium
    23 May, 05:24

    I totally agree about the colors. You really lose your brand without the last.fm red. The new design looks very generic.

    Other than that, all I care about is that I get a reliable, updated version of the last.fm application. Right now I’m using ScrobblePod, and it’s OK, but I have yet to find a Mac-friendly app that will scrobble my tracks from both iTunes and my iPod without me having to mess with it. Sometimes my music is scrobbled, and sometimes not. I can’t wait for the day when everything just works flawlessly.

    A bonus feature that would be nice is working with Facebook to get last.fm feeds imported into a user’s mini-feed (like they have done for Digg, del.icio.us, and Flickr).

    deelirium – 23 May, 05:24
  61. CamTarn
    23 May, 10:05

    Oh man, I can’t believe you guys ditched the red :(

    I appreciate the effort that went into the new design, and the boldness required to break away from such an established look. I’m sure the design is better in many many ways, too, and makes things easier for users. Unfortunately, as deelirium said, it’s really quite generic.

    I played a Pictionary-like game once with some friends, when we were trying to come up with a website design: given a graphics program and a 100×100 square image, how much complexity does it take before a website can be recognised? Slashdot (teal!), Digg (blue, green, yellow spots) and Last.fm (that odd pinkish-red) were amongst the most iconic and easily recognised.

    CamTarn – 23 May, 10:05
  62. LoveHateTragedy
    23 May, 13:00

    yay for multiple playlists and album descriptions. the layout needs some improvements tho. but great start!

    LoveHateTragedy – 23 May, 13:00
  63. Ojotango
    23 May, 15:02

    Ooh ho-hooo! Man I love being a part of these things!

    Off to try it now…

    Ojotango – 23 May, 15:02
  64. Larvi
    23 May, 18:04

    I love last.fm with all my internet heart…
    but this new design? I’m not feeling it. Why is the shoutbox at the very bottom?
    Please dont make this a facebook copy.

    Larvi – 23 May, 18:04
  65. DopefishJustin
    23 May, 18:16

    I’m not a subscriber so I can’t test, but does it incorporate the fingerprinting stuff to unify track and artist spellings? IMO the rest of it is just window dressing until that gets addressed.

    DopefishJustin – 23 May, 18:16
  66. Chris
    24 May, 00:07

    Since a lot of people are saying it doesn’t look as good, I’ll have to say the new design looks better to me. I welcome change and a new look is overdue.

    Chris – 24 May, 00:07
  67. Joseph Pearson
    24 May, 00:54

    Can we have multi-tag radio back? If non-subscribers can’t play their personal station, can they atleast have some option for variety?

    Joseph Pearson – 24 May, 00:54
  68. Babs
    24 May, 03:19

    I’m not finding the new design all that usable. :(

    Babs – 24 May, 03:19
  69. beebbee
    24 May, 05:35

    wow … i really don’t like it, i like the original :( i almost wish i didn’t subscribe now.

    beebbee – 24 May, 05:35
  70. Quinn
    24 May, 15:29

    It’s the second day I try to subscribe via HSBC and fail. What’s wrong?

    Quinn – 24 May, 15:29
  71. Dia
    24 May, 18:38

    Beta time is a great time.

    I am enjoying the merging of Artist Names. With my Japanese Music Collection it’s a little frustrating having three of the same artist. We do though, need it for songs too.

    I agree don’t forgo the Social Networking geeks. And I do hope there will be some backwards compatibility with some of the older plug ins. But what I really hope for – is for Zencasts. Im a Creative Zen Vision: M user and I’d like zencasts for my little thing too.

    I’m excited to see my four years of charts in the new stuff. Cheers!

    Dia – 24 May, 18:38
  72. Ernst
    24 May, 20:06

    I think it looks quite amazing.
    Will have to get used to the new looks, but new functionality is a really big plus!

    Ernst – 24 May, 20:06
  73. mojaam
    24 May, 23:18

    Real-time charts is my fav thing out of this. I love up to date stats!

    mojaam – 24 May, 23:18
  74. sean coon
    25 May, 04:54

    why does your search feature suck so damn hard?

    sean coon – 25 May, 04:54
  75. fiorio
    25 May, 07:57

    Please, do not change last.fm it’s perfect how it is already. And I really don’t like the new…i’m sorry.

    fiorio – 25 May, 07:57
  76. Adriaan
    25 May, 13:39

    Okay I signed up! Thanks!

    Adriaan – 25 May, 13:39
  77. Giovanni
    25 May, 14:45

    How much more bandwidth does real-time scrobbling use? I’m just curious.

    Giovanni – 25 May, 14:45
  78. Garrett
    25 May, 16:01

    I am not a subscriber, so I’m just going off the three screenshots I’ve seen, but I do not like how it looks like Facebook.

    Garrett – 25 May, 16:01
  79. Andreas
    25 May, 16:17

    I HATE the new design because the current non-beta design is so ergonomic and cool! And i don’t like the new Library as yet implemented, because the Library should only contain manually added artists/tracks/albums and it should never be possible to delete scrobbled artists/tracks from the profile-charts via Library. I want to trust the Last.fm-charts furthermore and this is not possible if everyone can delete scrobbled music at will…!

    Andreas – 25 May, 16:17
  80. fmera
    25 May, 17:35

    totally agree with andreas.

    honestly, if everyone were able to doctor, fabricate, distort, manipulate, skew, censor or otherwise misrepresent their listening history for whatever reason, what use is the music profile anymore? may as well not have it. either keep it intact or go tabula rasa.

    fmera – 25 May, 17:35
  81. アメリカ留学
    26 May, 10:25

    Hi! I am a Japanese. Though I looked for English study in various ways, I commented because contents were interesting. I was able to enjoy it very much. In addition, I come to look. Please keep it for us. Thank you!

    アメリカ留学 – 26 May, 10:25
  82. 035nw3eosdilreri
    26 May, 10:49

    We can all tamper with our listening history as it’s being scrobbled anyway, for example by turning scrobbling off/on or by renaming all our tracks to Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time. Editing our listening history also allows us to fix things which were not intended to be scrobbled.

    I prefer the new design – I see no need in embossing and shadowing.

    Real-time charts sound great as well!

    035nw3eosdilreri – 26 May, 10:49
  83. gabirulo
    26 May, 22:33

    totally agree with andreas.

    gabirulo – 26 May, 22:33
  84. rob
    27 May, 06:44

    oh yuck… looks like facebook. sigh. really prefer the current design and its focus on what you’ve listened to.

    rob – 27 May, 06:44
  85. A. W.
    27 May, 12:14

    The design looks quite nice, from what I can see on Niklas’s blog

    All very exciting, anyhow! Keep it up!

    A. W. – 27 May, 12:14
  86. Maggie Walsh
    27 May, 14:50

    This sounds great! I’m especially loving the real-time updates — been waiting for that for a long time.

    Just curious — is last.fm planning on adding any new tools for artists/musicians in the new build?

    Maggie Walsh – 27 May, 14:50
  87. alvareo
    27 May, 21:54

    woow wonderful!!
    i think i’ll think more seriously ‘bout suscribing now :)

    alvareo – 27 May, 21:54
  88. Adam
    27 May, 22:23

    I hope that the new “design” is not how last.fm will actually look and feel. I can only agree with what’s been said by Japie, Kevin Spencer, C26000, fergusmcphail and Andreas.

    The new features are great. Library is nice, but perhaps it should be more separated from scrobbling and should really be a replacement for the popular “albums i own” tag.

    Adam – 27 May, 22:23
  89. thatway
    28 May, 16:44

    i want to be subscriber suddenly

    thatway – 28 May, 16:44
  90. shov1
    28 May, 22:48

    i like the new design, it is much more efficient than the old one. i don’t think it looks like facebook.

    however, please fix artists’ discographies. they’re a right mess, with no differentiation between albums/singles/eps/bootlegs/live albums.

    keep up the good work!

    x

    shov1 – 28 May, 22:48
  91. beta-tester
    29 May, 14:04

    Real-time charts don’t work …

    beta-tester – 29 May, 14:04
  92. Ivanerr
    29 May, 15:12

    Ha-ha what a silly new design!

    Ivanerr – 29 May, 15:12
  93. Ivanerr
    29 May, 15:26

    What the hell, 302 pages in my library?
    Is there a single person on Earth whos gonna to list all of them?

    http://beta.last.fm/user/Ivanerr/library
    has no purpose :))

    Ivanerr – 29 May, 15:26
  94. Henk
    29 May, 18:21

    Guys,

    I don’t want another social network. I just want my social music revolution as it is. Thank you.

    Henk – 29 May, 18:21
  95. Name
    30 May, 03:35

    well i was going to subscribe as a graduation present, but I couldn’t hold out that long, so instead i’ll play around with this instead of graduating. yay.

    Name – 30 May, 03:35
  96. Cassandra
    30 May, 07:11

    I would love to be able to edit my tags. Please please can you fold that into the new version? :)

    Cassandra – 30 May, 07:11
  97. reosarevok
    30 May, 09:35

    Well, all in all it’s looking good, but I’d like to have artists charts above tracks and not the other way around, and why only 10 artists long?

    And I think the library, as useful as it seems, definitely needs a ‘less images, more list’ option. I mean, being able to see which tracks someone listens to the most for each artist is pretty cool, but why force all these images on us?

    reosarevok – 30 May, 09:35
  98. sziwaa
    30 May, 17:04

    does anynone know if the last 3/6/12 months charts are going to be updated real-time too?

    sziwaa – 30 May, 17:04
  99. Ivanerr
    31 May, 15:16

    Just checked out my recommendations radio, where the “similar artists” in the station has no names, just images.

    So i have to remember: “Hmm… I sould check a guy with headphones, black and white photo of pretty chinese girl and a couple of gypsies with trumpets” :)))

    Yes i can move the mouse over the image and wait to see one name at time, but this is not the way of the Perfect Interface ;)

    Ivanerr – 31 May, 15:16
  100. foohead
    1 June, 18:00

    Well, coming from someone who has fallen in love with last.fm, is addicted to it, and depends on it to get through my day, I’m leary of some of these changes. I love the look of last.fm as it is, and this new version seems to be leading into the average social website, where last.fm is currently far from average. What I like about the new version is the option to see lists of various time points (one week, months, year). That’s a great addition. What I would miss is openning up my home page to what all my friends are listening to, or have listened to in the near past. I hope this isn’t going away. Also, it sounds picky, but I love the images of the bands/albums/whatnot. I hope the graphics aren’t going to change too much in this way. I’m sure you’ll end up with a sharp product. Thanks for keeping it fresh. Cheers,
    J

    foohead – 1 June, 18:00
  101. Duncan
    2 June, 07:27

    you. kids. rock.

    Duncan – 2 June, 07:27
  102. Duncan
    2 June, 07:32

    doh. ignore above link.

    should be this →

    but you. kids. still. rock.

    Duncan – 2 June, 07:32
  103. n0umena
    4 June, 21:35

    seems quite facebook-y to me

    real time charts are great though

    n0umena – 4 June, 21:35
  104. kokoon
    6 June, 11:51

    hey guys check out this design mockup that michael_and did. i say it’s very fine.

    kokoon – 6 June, 11:51
  105. yoyotano
    7 June, 11:36

    I hope ,in the new last fm we can made diferent playlist with diferent kind of music , thanks .

    yoyotano – 7 June, 11:36
  106. Steph
    9 June, 20:39

    Can’t say I’m too excited about this new design. There’s way too much stuff in the body put or it than in the sidebars… I think the shoutbox should stay on the left. Someone said before that it looks just like any other website. It really feels like Facebook to me rather than last.fm. I love the current design. The gray background and white in the main space gets the layout more depth. I’m also hoping we’ll be able to change the layout colors. <3

    I DO like the new left side bar though. It’s got a lot of great info, and moving journals over there was a great idea too. Realtime charts is <3 as well.

    Overall though, I think Henk said it best! “I don’t want another social network. I just want my social music revolution as it is. Thank you.”

    Steph – 9 June, 20:39
  107. exscape_
    11 June, 17:15

    The mockup (three comments up) looks a lot better than the current beta IMHO. It needs a couple of tweaks, of course, but it’s still better than the “current” new one.

    exscape_ – 11 June, 17:15
  108. Meldoicstorm
    12 June, 12:16

    I love last.fm, when the staff do something. I am gonna test it now…

    Meldoicstorm – 12 June, 12:16
  109. mirc
    16 June, 22:50

    thank you

    mirc – 16 June, 22:50
  110. lofi72
    18 June, 11:23

    In the words of the song ‘Please, please, please, let me get what I want’ which is not yet another myspace clone. The vast majority of long standing last fm subscribers don’t want it!
    Even the real time charts is an unnecessary step too far…

    lofi72 – 18 June, 11:23
  111. nataku
    18 June, 19:52

    Sounds great to me. Cannot wait!

    nataku – 18 June, 19:52
  112. MRKILLINGJOKE
    18 June, 23:36

    Honestly, i think you should leave it alone. Like they say, if i ain’t broken…why fix it ?? They never tried to re do Myspace. So, why do it to last.fm ??

    MRKILLINGJOKE – 18 June, 23:36
  113. Paul Stephensen
    19 June, 00:38

    hey folks, i guess in the web 2.0 world this is were the term perpetual beta makes sense. i love using last.fm the only thing i would like to see change is the ability for last.fm users to be able to incorporate their amazon.com affiliate program i.d into the widgets they build with your wizards. this would allow your last.fm ambassadors and fans to get some financial rewards from their loyalty. good work and keep it up

    Paul Stephensen – 19 June, 00:38
  114. Edwin
    19 June, 19:33

    I MUST have that desk! Who makes the writable one? Also those quad monitors are devine. Can you guys do a write up or at least links to all the stuff you guys use in the office?

    Edwin – 19 June, 19:33
  115. sevgi
    20 June, 15:40

    THaNk yOu

    sevgi – 20 June, 15:40
  116. Casper P
    21 June, 00:13

    yeah this will be awesome! :)

    Casper P – 21 June, 00:13
  117. Bloopy
    23 June, 01:40

    “Your entire Last.fm music profile made visible, down to every last artist and track.”

    You mean now I can’t listen to 1 or 2 Radiohead tracks in secret without anybody finding out about it? :P

    Bloopy – 23 June, 01:40
  118. mirc
    24 June, 18:43

    thank you güzel site

    mirc – 24 June, 18:43
  119. isabel
    25 June, 01:26

    I love last.fm

    (I love that I can love a track in Facebook.)

    It would be great if last.fm could keep track of the things I recommend to others. or does it do that already? I couldn’t find this..)

    Thanks for a great site.

    isabel – 25 June, 01:26
  120. DG
    30 June, 03:18

    making visible ALL artists… wow! but thats gonna take too much time when browsing, plus the page is gonna be very long… maybe just top 100 ot 150? thats should be enough, i think

    i’m very excited about new visual styles! =)

    DG – 30 June, 03:18
  121. LilleFluff
    1 July, 10:48

    It’s too facebookish. Not good. The current design is great, things are more logical. Why is the shoutbox down at the bottom for example?

    LilleFluff – 1 July, 10:48
  122. rihveli
    1 July, 17:18

    I am happy with any progess!

    Hope you would find solution to my devotion to find my real Magnus Lindberg!

    rihveli – 1 July, 17:18

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