Hi,

when I try to play Last.Fm streams in 2.1.80 I get the following message:
"Unfortunately, Last.Fm radio streams are only functional for Last.Fm subscribers. All the other Last.Fm features are unaffected."

In 2.1 playing Last.Fm streams still works with the same account. User, software or Last.Fm problem?

have same error with openSuse

Ok, so here’s the deal. This comes from talking with last.fm staffers and other people.
Things to note:
1) Client streaming is subscriber-only for all users in all countries. This includes the official last.fm player.
2) Web streaming is free in US/UK/DE because on-page ad revenue can cover the licensing costs of playing you that music.
However,
3) This is all based on the new Last.Fm API that was just released this spring. Amarok is using liblastfm, the official c++ library for communicating with last.fm, that uses this new API. This new API comes with the aformentioned restrictions.
4) The current release of the last.fm client uses an old API, and still works.
5) Amarok <2.2 uses an old API version, and still works.
6) The in-development last.fm desktop client is also using liblastfm, and will be subject to the same constraints as amarok 2.2 when it is released.
Last.Fm can turn off the old API whenever they want (when they have released their client clearly). Amarok is not going to consciously try to circumvent the Last.Fm ToS by using an older version of the API that may or may not break at any moment.
If the Last.Fm radio is valuable to you, consider paying the 3eur/month it costs (less than buying a breakfast!). I do, and I consider it money well spent.

@lfranchi could an Amarok developer change the Last.fm config dialog to note that it will only work with a paid subscription

thanks,

Ok, I suspected somethink like this. Thank you for the clarification.

I'll probably try the subscription after I have moved house to compare it with so called music flatrates.

Just so there is no confusion, I don't blame Amarok developers for any part of this, it's up to Last FM and their representatives to send out a clear and consistent message about what is and is not allowed, which it seems they failed to do.

lfranchi wrote:Ok, so here’s the deal. This comes from talking with last.fm staffers and other people.
Things to note:
1) Client streaming is subscriber-only for all users in all countries. This includes the official last.fm player.

Sounds a bit like redefining things after the fact to me, it didn't sound like those limitations were going to apply to the official client. It was never very clear exactly what 3rd party applications using the offical API were going to be allowed or not allowed to do.

And...

2) Web streaming is free in US/UK/DE because on-page ad revenue can cover the licensing costs of playing you that music.

Sounds a bit hinky to me. In situations where I would be using Amarok or the Last FM client to listen to streams, having to use the web based player instead will not be very likely to result in me clicking on more ads. Maybe that's just me.

Later, Seeker

seeker5528 wrote:

2) Web streaming is free in US/UK/DE because on-page ad revenue can cover the licensing costs of playing you that music.

Sounds a bit hinky to me. In situations where I would be using Amarok or the Last FM client to listen to streams, having to use the web based player instead will not be very likely to result in me clicking on more ads. Maybe that's just me.

Later, Seeker

They get the revenues because of offering the space for the ads, independant of clicking on it or not (but it is possible they get even more when users click it)

neverendingo wrote:They get the revenues because of offering the space for the ads, independant of clicking on it or not (but it is possible they get even more when users click it)

I'm sure they get a fair chunk of change just to put an ad into the rotation, but IMHO to say 'They get the revenues because of offering the space for the ads' is an over simpification.

Advertisers pay for results.

More page views, more value to the advertisers, but just because the ad is displayed more doesn't mean the ad generated more interest in the product, maybe it did, maybe it didn't.

If somebody clicks on an ad, that is a definite result. Somebody saw the ad and cared enough to find out more. If in that same visit that person purchases something that is the optimal result.

Even if the clicks on the advertising don't generate money for Last FM up front, it gives them more leverage when the hit the negotiating table.

Later, Seeker