Wednesday, May 30, 2007

CBS Buys Last.FM: DO NOT WANT

News reaches Quinquireme Towers that my favourite online social networking site, last.fm, has just sold itself to American media behemoth CBS for £140m.

I don't know about you, but I'm not wild about an American media behemoth knowing all the details about what music I listen to and what gigs I go to. I have a feeling they will not use this information for good. Instead, I have a feeling they will use it to try to sell me things.

This makes me think that I - along with last.fm's 15 million other users - have just been sold to CBS as a tiny package of demographic data.

I feel used.

I have deleted my account, and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of other people do the same.

Cheerio last.fm; it's been fun.


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9 comments:

Sylvia said...

Quite right too - I bet they find that lots of people will delete their accounts. The trouble is that they will still have that record of what you've done before....

patroclus said...

They might still have the data, but they can't harass me with marketing offers, because I have GONE.

Gone to Pandora, probably. Until that goes the same way.

S said...

I really don't understand why you have a problem with someone buying Last.fm.

I too think it is a super duper site and I shall keep using it until such point it doesn't serve my needs or something better comes along. I'm just not bothered that some company holds my listening tastes. Whats the worse that can happen that they inform me about new music I might like. Isn't that a good thing? Of course if they spam your inbox day in day out then maybe its time to move on but you don't know they will do that yet. Hmm I feel a post coming on my blog.

Anyway Patroclus I do hope you reconsider because it seems silly to 'cut your nose off to spite your face'.

patroclus said...

Ah, bloggingjames, I don't like giving my personal data to big companies who haven't earned my trust or respect. And I don't like the idea that I'm now apparently nothing but an 'earlobe' for CBS to advertise to. I've got plenty of ways of finding new music without CBS helping me along, thank you very much - and I never used last.fm for that anyway.

I'm not cutting off my nose to spite my face - last.fm was a nice thing, but I don't *need* it.

GreatSheElephant said...

> They might still have the data, but they can't harass me with marketing offers, because I have GONE.


Oh yes they can. DP regulations aren't the same in the US. If they have a valid email address they may well use it.

btw, I feel your pain.

Billy said...

Bastages. I'm not deleting my account though as I like it too much but I'm considering it.

realdoc said...

I heard this on PM on the way home and my first thought was..."I bet patroclus deletes her account". I was right hurrah

Marsha Klein said...

S'funny, that's what I thought too...

S said...

Hi Quinquireme & Quinquireme readers,

I have written some further thoughts on this subject over on my blog, if you have not already noticed. (see “Google is watching you… bovvered” – 31st May)

Feel free to pop over and continue the debate or just to put me in my place.