Discussion Thread

Hi all,

I joined Last.fm a couple of months ago and discovered that MP3s uploaded to the site and tagged "free download" are stripped of critical ID3 tag frames, including the all-important TCOP (Copyright text), WCOP (URL to Copyright/Legal information) and WOAF (URL to official audio file download page).  I wrote a note to their support forums on November 23rd, describing the situation, and received an unsympathetic reply, including "I struggle to imagine many people caring."

For a deeper, technical explanation of those MP3 ID3 tag frames, Creative Commons licensing schemes and how Google may use those critical tags to index your free MP3s, please check out my original note.

After three months, there's been no reply and no change.  So, think twice before offering free MP3 downloads on Last.fm.  Furthermore, I encourage artists to contact the company and request that they remedy this situation right away.  It's fundamentally wrong to strip copyright information from an artist's work before redistributing it.

I hope this is helpful.

Dave

Thanks for sharing this. Keep us up to date if you get a response, or find out more.

Generally, I like Last.FM, because it lets me know who is playing my band's music, and when. I've really liked using it as an artist. But, of course, they shouldn't strip out copyright info.