Last.fm Paid $280 Million By CBS For Combining Musical Taste And Technology
CBS broadened its technological horizons with the acquistion of the U.K.’s last.fm online music community. Last.fm is a five year old company that has built its site by connecting people of similar musical taste. Their technology allows them to monitor the musical preferences of its users and it creates social networks around musical tastes while providing customized Internet radio streams.
CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves said the acquisition fits well with his company’s goal to attract younger viewers and listeners as it attempts to “transition from a content company into an audience company.”
According to Moonves, Last.fm has more than 15 million users in more than 200 countries and is “one of the most well established, fastest growing online community networks out there.” CBS Interactive anticipates that the acquisition will support other alignment stategies, including investments in Web sites that are popular with younger users, including Wallstrip.com, Joost and Spot Runner.
Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey said, “From my vantage point, I see an audience acquisition play since Last.fm is growing handily, but I also see a technology play, where CBS could hope to use this technology in more of its sites.”
In related comments on the business application of the acquisition McQuivey said, “You wouldn’t spend hundreds of millions just to buy that additional ad inventory alone — they have to believe the technology has benefits that will extend beyond just this site.”
CBS paid $280 million for the platform; a mulitfaceted investment in the refined taste of music conoseurs the world over and savvy technological application.
CBS said the Last.fm team, including founders Felix Miller, Martin Stiksel and Jones, will continue to independently run the network and will “work with all relevant CBS divisions to apply their community-building and technology expertise to extend CBS businesses online and within the mobile space.”
Miller said CBS officials “understood our strategy from the first meeting” and were able to comprehend how the Last.fm platform “could ultimately apply to all forms of media.” Apparently, CBSplans tocreate social networks around all of its properties and it trusts that Last.fm technology can help.
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