I  have been a contented subscriber of Last.Fm since 2004.

The reason I am happy to pay is because it enables me to listen to the on-line radio – either one based on my personal tags or, more often, group radios or play-lists linked to particular artists or genres.

My motivation is not to listen to music I already know or have in my collection but to make fresh discoveries , mainly of those artists working outside the mainstream channels.

It would,of course, be great if such a service could be provided free but I think to expect this for nothing is unrealistic.  Last.Fm is not a charity and needs money to survive.  For the price of a cappuccino & cake I get a monthly dose of great music.

There may be good economic reasons why it makes sense to charge people in Europe and the rest of the world for a service that users in the UK, USA & Germany get for free but it doesn’t take a genius to realise that such a proposal is going to cause resentment.

A blog announcement on 24th March 2009 to this effect prompted a flood of mostly angry responses. The volume of comments meant that replies had to be transferred to the forum page instead.  Sample comment : “I find it so utterly insulting  I refuse to have anything to do with Last.fm anymore. I’m seriously furious. This is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever experienced with any kind of service, online or offline”.

A week later, Last.Fm announced this decision had been temporarily postponed but the damage has been done and it seems inevitable that this proposal will be implemented sooner or later.

Since  Last.FM was acquired by CBS in 2007, users have been anticipating just this kind of  corporate  insensitivity. It’s a move which totally destroys the  idea of building a global community of music lovers.

While I am not against the principle of paying, the staff at Last.Fm have proved again that public relations is not their forté. If the site needs subscribers to survive, everybody should be asked to contribute wherever they live.

Above all, when changes need to be made, transparency and honesty are crucial qualities.  When the good folks of WordPress make changes they only do so after a period of consultation and  careful trials. Whenever a change is to implemented, we are forewarned and kept informed. This is followed up with clear and concise guide on the implications of the changes. This is the way to build trust and loyalty.

In contrast, when Last.Fm implement changes there is never the sense that they have examined all the angles and thought through the implications. The radical change in the web-site’s appearance a couple of years ago brought about a wave of criticism from users and the ‘bring back the old Last.Fm’ crusade is still alive and kicking.  Some of the rejection is about features that don’t work or the loss of familiar tools but the chief source of the anger is that ‘customers’ do not feel valued.

The Last.Fm gives proof of the impossibility of building a  ‘corporate community’ – a contradiction of terms if ever there was one.