Last.free.fm
Popular music app Last.fm will no longer be free on most mobiles.
The music service has decided to mimic Spotify's model for mobile phones and ‘entertainment devices' and begin to charge a subscription for the app, which has so far been free.
Apparently all users will have to sign up and pay up to become a subscriber to continue using the service, although Windows Phone 7 and Xbox users will continue to be able to stream radio channels for free as usual.
The changes will reportedly hit Sonos, Squeezebox, iOS, Android, Denon, Teufel and Roberts devices.
In a blog post, Matthew Hawn of Last.fm said: "On emerging mobile and home entertainment devices, it is not practical for us to deliver an ad supported radio experience, but instead, we will migrate to what we believe is the highest quality, lowest cost ad-free music service in the world."
"We're committed to building Last.fm into a bigger service that gives listeners the best music discovery experience anywhere while financially supporting and promoting the artists who make the music we love," he added.
Defending the move that will see Last.fm fall in line with its arguably costlier rivals, Hawn said: "For the cost of a fancy coffee, a Last.fm monthly subscription allows you to listen to radio across all platforms, on all your devices, and without commercial interruptions."
A subscription costs £3 a month, while listening to Last.fm on a computer will remain free.
The company said that the changes affect only the radio component of Last.fm's services on mobile and home entertainment devices and other features such as scrobbling, music and event recommendations, social networking and community forums, and its wiki-based artist information pages will remain free.
