And Finally …

So, today, Last.fm announces that they are announcing Visual Radio. Not to be confused with Video or TV, visual radio, amongst other things allows users to play music and watch pic-after-pic loaded into the flash player with the Burns effect. “So what!” you might say to yourself, and i would be inclined to agree. The innovation of music and video, or should i say moving pictures, is nothing new. When the first broadcast went out via MTV on August 1st, 1981, some 28 years ago, that was an industry changing event.

What this new player does for Last.fm though is to bring them up-to-date with what is going on out there on the web in their own industry, not so much the visual stuff but with other hidden features in the new player, like Combo Radio, which puts them back in line with services like Spotify. The new combo feature will also be hugely welcomed by long-time listeners given the propensity for Last.fm to get highly repetitive, an offshoot of listening to the same stuff all the time, which, given that humans are creatures of habit, is highly likely.

Given the recent ruckus over making non UK US and DE site visitors pay-to-play its clear that the biggest update to this player is the opportunity to monetize, less so on the affiliate side, but in the background images and elsewhere that allow Last.fm to push their own warez and those of their current advertising paymasters, Vodafone as we speak. The massive update to the player more likely paves the way for new forms of advertising in player than were not being exploited before. Perhaps in video, or equally as likely in audio. With an increasing need to actually monetize and pay up for the “exorbitant” fees rights holders are demanding the commercial pressures to inject new styles or advertising are in abundance. But all this is really window dressing.

Beyond all the above, design-wise, it’s a shame that the player and the rest of the content is pushed far down the page, thus forcing you to scroll up and down the page to both see the visuals and take advantage of the data: similar artists, events, shouts and whatever else, that loads in each time a new song starts on the player. It’s alright if you have a spare 19 or 24″ display in in a vertical position hooked up to your computer but even on a high-end apple mac book pro you are forced to scroll up and down. There are other obvious bugs too but I am sure they will work them out in due course as the masses pile in to try it out.

Overall, the design is pleasing, though maybe too busy for my liking, and very usable once you get used to it, and judging by comments left on the blog announcement of the new listen pages, the visitors-at-large are generally liking it too, even if they don’t watch and listen at the same time.

I am sure the guys at Last are actively partaking in a bout of mutual back-slappery, all too pleased with their recent endeavours and the fruits of their labour. If not, then I am sure the chap smiling in the picture is happy as the update brings even more dollars gushing in.

Related Links

Visual Radio Announcement on the Last.fm Blog – http://blog.last.fm/2009/05/06/lastfm-visual-radio