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Last.fm announces artist royalties, on-demand tracks, subscription service

Last.fm quietly announced a new subscription service today after announcing on-demand track streaming.Music discovery service Last.fm, after announcing the addition of on-demand streaming of full-length tracks and albums Thursday, announced today that they would be adding a system by which artists and labels would be paid directly for plays through their system.

According to the site’s blog, blog.last.fm, artists will be able to upload their music for play and will receive royalties in the form of a share of advertising revenue.

More quietly, Last.fm announced a “soon-to-be announced” subscription service they will be deploying. Until the service is active, a track may be played three times, then a preview of the subscription service will be advertised, according to the blog.

The only details offered of the subscription service in the post consisted of “unlimited plays and some other useful things.”

Speculation, at this point, is hasty, but it would seem Last.fm is rethinking their business strategy.