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Last.fm not really sharing data with RIAA
Have you torrented the new U2 album? We won't tell, and neither will Last.fm, if those unreleased tracks show up on your listening profile. That's not what TechCrunch is saying, though. Earlier today, they incorrectly reported that Last.fm turned over listener data to the RIAA as part of an investigation into piracy of the U2 record. According to TechCrunch's anonymous source, "I heard from an irate friend who works at CBS that last.fm recently provided the RIAA with a giant dump of user data to track down people who are scrobbling unreleased tracks."But according to one of Last.fm's founders, commenting on the TechCrunch post, "This is utter nonsense and totally untrue. As far as I can tell, the author of this article got a "tip" from *one* person and decided to make a story out of it. Techcrunch is full of shit, film at 11." I'm not attacking TechCrunch's reporting here, I'm just doing some reporting of my own to make sure everyone knows that this story should apparently be downgraded to rumor status, and there's no need to dump your last.fm account over it.
UPDATE: Despite it being past 1AM at Last.fm's London HQ, the Last.fm staff have posted in their forums: "Of course we work with the major labels and provide them with broad statistics, as we would with any other label, but we'd never personally identify our users to a third party - that goes against everything we stand for. As far as I'm concerned Techcrunch have made this whole story up."
Comments
11
Subscribe to commentsgonintendoFeb 20th 2009 8:40PM
This is why I use Pandora :P
NathanFeb 20th 2009 8:53PM
thank the lordie they dont
EthanFeb 20th 2009 9:07PM
If my listening tells the music industry to put more stuff I like in record shops, that'd be great, but if it tells them anything specifically about myself, that'd be awful.
step21Feb 20th 2009 10:30PM
ITT: Erik Schonfeld is at best a douche, not a journalist ... (and they wonder why no ones takes techcrunch or the ppl that read it seriously anymore)
MattFeb 20th 2009 10:30PM
Hi from Last.FM HQ! I'm one of the founders, and we actually did sell the data off. Thanks, have a great night.
---just as easily validated as the comment on TC, right? Ah, better yet, let's cite a coder as a credible source, because as we all know, developers are involved in the business negotiations.
Look, I love last.fm, and I'm still scrobbling, but I'm calling bullshit until CBS posts, a founder of Last.fm posts on their blog, or U2 goes away for ever. Any of the above are acceptable.
corunesFeb 20th 2009 11:49PM
http://www.last.fm/forum/21713/_/506518
There you go. The last.fm staff member who posted on the TechCrunch article posted on the last.fm forums confirming it.
MattFeb 20th 2009 11:54PM
indeed, i stand corrected. thankfully.
http://last.fm/user/stutters
sanjeevFeb 21st 2009 12:24PM
This is great! Thanks so much. Hope it will continue.
you can get interesting post about web usability and technology on my Web Usability Blog.
QuikboyFeb 22nd 2009 1:38AM
That's probably why I haven't visited TechCrunch for quite a while, and probably won't for a long time.
If you're worried about the RIAA, maybe you shouldn't torrent stuff? I mean there is a lot of DRM-free music out there now, and otherwise than that, the only reason I can think of torrenting is essentially being a freeloader, which is not cool.
theoverworkedFeb 24th 2009 9:22PM
who the hell would want to listen to u2 anyway? good lord, if i was going to pirate something, it would be something i'd actually want to listen to.
and cheers to everyone who doesn't support the archaic, crumbling industry known as recording corporations. they're on their way out - let's all do our best to not support corrupt companies more interested in profits than providing decent products to those that pay to support them. fuck the RIAA
haknotMar 11th 2009 4:53PM
Read views on the flap at: http://www.musicplayer.me
last.fm isn't all that's holy.
and pandora does rock, if in a smaller way.