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Media - Wednesday, May 30, 2007

CBS Invests in Global Youth With $280M Buyout of London's LastFM

CBS is paying $280M for London-based Last.fm, which raised VC from Index Ventures and some well-known angels just one year ago. The deal brings together again old friends - Quincy Smith who runs CBS' Interactive group and Index Ventures' Danny Rimer. Other financial backers include VC Joi Ito together with Reid Hoffman, CEO of LinkedIn and Stefan Glänzer, CEO of 20six Weblog Services AG in the UK.

LastFM monitors the music that each user listens to and accordingly recommends music that the user might enjoy. The site also allows music fans with similar tastes to communicate and share their playlists. The service streams music to users rather than offering downloads.

LastFM claims 15M user and competes well against competitors like Pandora, MOG and iLike.

The site also provides an ad-supported stream of the music from the hundreds of independent labels it has deals with as well as from major label Warner. It tends to get great user reviews, including a reviews today by VC Fred Wilson.

Recent rumors were that Viacom would pay $450M for LastFm. The company is led by a trio of founders: Richard Jones, Martin Stiksel and CEO Felix Miller.

With this purchase and with its seed purchase of WallStrip it seems the Qunicy Smith is reshaping CBS online to become a hipper and more youth oriented. This is just what the old firm needs, we believe.

Read - CBS Buys Last.fm (A VC)
Read - Last FM Bought By CBS (BBC)