Leaving Last.fm
Posted on July 9th, 2009 by Russ. Filed under Meta.
Earlier this week, I handed in three months’ notice – I’m leaving Last.fm at the beginning of October. It’s been more than six years since I started working on a small project called Audioscrobbler with RJ, and since the founders’ leaving I’m now the longest-serving member of staff. It’s been massively fun and Last.fm is still an awesome place to work, but I think it’s time for a change.
That said, it’ll be nice not to work in a company which is constantly subject to perplexingly arbitrary rules and unrealistic royalties set by increasingly out-of-touch record labels.
It feels like a lot of my work in the last few years has been trying to prevent myself from being such a single point of failure. It’s quite a relief to be in a situation where I can finally leave.
As for what I’m doing next; I’m going to work for Smarkets heading up tech operations. I think it’ll be quite a different challenge to Last.fm, and it’ll be great to work for a proper startup again. It should be fun.
(If you’re interested in coming to work for Last.fm, we have a couple of vacancies in our ops department on a variety of levels.)
July 9th, 2009 at 10:34
Sad to hear that. Good luck with your new job though. I love what lastfm has become and I hope it continues that way.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:35
It’s sad to see you go, you’re as much as a fixture as the ping pong table. But i’m excited that you’re going to Smarkets, I’m a little bit envious.
I hope you’ll still be in the pub regularly.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:45
A new experience in new company. Good luck!
p.s. i’ve send mail to jobs@last.fm :)
July 9th, 2009 at 14:12
it’s sad to hear that you, the last one of those who would call last.fm their baby, will leave too. i’ve always trusted you and appreciate your bluntness and honesty towards us users. i wish you all luck for your new venture, i bet it will be a success ;)
July 9th, 2009 at 18:09
Gah, I bet the office will be a lot less lively without you and there won’t be anyone as knowledgeable about beer as you :( Best of luck at your new job!
July 9th, 2009 at 22:02
Very sorry to hear this too. Quick look at Smarkets and have to say, it does sound exciting! Can’t say I blame you.
Thank you for all your hard work at Last.fm (almost round the clock!). We will miss you very much. Best of luck for the future. :)
July 9th, 2009 at 22:11
I can imagine that Last.fm was a tough place to work the last few years. A lot of things have been going downhill for reasons Last.fm can’t control lately, so there’s been tons of critique.
I hope you have fun in your next job, and I hope Last.fm won’t go under because of you leaving – it might just do :o
September 25th, 2009 at 17:49
I am shocked, you were one of the Last.fm rocks… everyone is leaving it’s very sad! I have such great memories of working there…
September 25th, 2009 at 21:31
[...] seems particularly disenchanted, though perhaps not specifically with CBS, blogging: “It’ll be nice not to work in a company which is constantly subject to perplexingly arbitrary [...]
October 6th, 2009 at 16:45
I know that you should be leaving Last.fm just about now, but maybe you can explain something to me. Don’t take this as some sort of request, but as something that bugs me.
I know the matter of changing usernames has already been discussed in the forums and the final word has been given: No username will be changed.
But why aren’t innactive/empty accounts being deleted so that users can register with that username?
It becomes a disappointment if the name we wanted was registered by someone that doesn’t use it! I registered on Last.fm almost two years ago and I am still waiting for two usernames that I wanted, to be released. They were both registered 6 and 5 years ago, and to this day they both have NO scrobbles, NO friends and NO shouts.
They were never used for anything, beyond registering. They aren’t even inactive accounts because they were never “active” in the first place. They just sit there, empty and pointless. What is the point of keeping such accounts alive? What can prevent for so long the decision to mass delete these completely empty accounts that follow no one, no one follows and have 0 updates. If they have nothing and were never used, what is there to lose when you delete them?
It causes needless frustation on new users when they register, that feeling of “ahh, too late…already taken :s” that grows overtime as you keep seeing that account with the name you wanted not being used.
I hope that one day this gets considered and done, because Last.fm should listen to the needs of their users. And most of those users already have an extensive online presense, being registered on many places causing them to develop an “identity” around the username they regularly use. It seems a small issue but to some it may be importatn and become annying that they never got to have the username they wanted. Everyone has a name, it’s how we are addressed to or recognized among others, even on the Internet! And Last.fm also relies on friendship…community, which makes it more important that people call you by the name you wanted, that it is simple and recognizable.
I like Last.fm, I think it’s a brilliant project that has opened the door to change the way we enjoy music, and how we share it with others.
Just hoping that it gets better and better for everyone who really uses it.
Thank you for makign Last.fm what it is today.