Last.fm Becomes Fastest Growing Free Online Music Network in the U.S.

Last.fm, the CBS Corporation-owned social networking music Web site, released figures today that showed it to be the fastest growing online music network in the U.S., as their free-on-demand music service saw a unique listener increase of 92% since it was launched four weeks ago.

In addition, since the launch of free-on-demand, unique visitors continued to show sustained growth, up 59%, while page views increased 58%. Last.fm receives more than 21 million active users worldwide every month.

Martin Stiksel, Last.fm co-founder, said: "We've created a new model that works for everyone -- listeners, artists and copyright holders -- and the user response proves that it is working. Free is the future, and this is signaled not only by the industry's growing acceptance of what we're doing, but more importantly, by the incredibly fast increase of users accessing music on Last.fm since we launched free-on-demand."

"It's very gratifying to see the U.S. market take to Last.fm this way," said Felix Miller, co-founder, Last.fm. "There's no question that free-on- demand streaming has proven to be a tremendously powerful value proposition for the U.S. consumer. It's also clear that the music industry is looking outside itself to maximize existing revenue opportunities while developing new ones, and Last.fm and CBS are showing what can be done. And it's not only the music industry that understands the potential of our model -- we're also attracting major sponsors like BMW and Philips. Additionally, our successful offline activity around the Grammy Awards, and other events we are planning, show that we're working to achieve what we promised when we launched last month."

While the free-on-demand offering has been the catalyst of the growth in U.S. traffic, the site received a tremendous boost after Last.fm received on- air promotional exposure during the Feb. 10 airing of the Grammy Awards, as well as the Jan. 25 Garth Brooks concert airing on the CBS Television Network.

In launching the free-on-demand service earlier this year, Last.fm became the first music Web site to offer free, global, on-demand access to the largest licensed catalogue of music built on partnerships with all four major record labels -- Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG, Warner and EMI -- as well as CD Baby, IODA, the Orchard, Naxos and more than 150,000 independent labels and artists. Free-on-demand listening is available without registration, or the download of any software.

Last.fm has become one of the leading places in the world where people can go to listen to music online. Its vast library has attracted a community of more than 20 million unique monthly users in 240 countries around the globe. The heart of Last.fm is a powerful recommendation engine that guides listeners to music they are likely to enjoy based on prior selections, connecting them with the music they love and with others who share their tastes. Last.fm's free-on-demand service is advertiser supported, allowing clients many unique opportunities to reach a highly targeted and engaged audience.

Currently the free-on-demand service is available in the U.S., U.K. and Germany available without registration, or the download of any software, and is scheduled to roll out globally in the coming months.