2002: Last.fm and Audioscrobbler Herald the Social Web

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Long-term Scrobbling & Nostalgia

  • Many commenters are still actively scrobbling, some continuously since 2003–2008, sharing join dates and six‑figure play counts.
  • Last.fm is remembered as a first “real” social network for many, with strong emotional attachment and memories of dial‑up era syncing, Rockbox/iPod workflows, and custom profile pages.
  • Several people say their current taste was shaped by Last.fm’s compatibility scores and “similar artists” features.

Ecosystem, Tools & Open Alternatives

  • Users highlight ListenBrainz, libre.fm, Koito, and self-hosted multi-scrobblers to duplicate or decentralize their listening data.
  • Various client tools are discussed: Marvis, Neptunes, Finale, Pano Scrobbler, cmus/MPRIS scrobblers, Jellyfin/Plex plugins.
  • Discord bots that read Last.fm data are now a major social surface; Last.fm’s very stable API is seen as a key reason the ecosystem persists.

Streaming Integration & Platform Choices

  • Spotify is praised for “set and forget” native scrobbling across devices; others argue Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz, and Plex also integrate well, though sometimes less seamlessly.
  • Lack of good scrobbling support is a major reason some won’t switch from Spotify to Apple Music.
  • Some move off commercial streaming to Jellyfin/Plex plus self-hosted scrobblers.
  • Google Music’s shutdown is resented, especially by those who lost uploaded libraries or saw messy migrations to YouTube Music.

Music Discovery: Social, Human, and P2P

  • Many say the best discovery came from Last.fm’s old social features: browsing compatible profiles, forums, and user-made visualizations.
  • Private trackers (Oink, what.cd, successors) and Soulseek are fondly recalled as unparalleled for discovery and curation.
  • Human DJs, radio shows, venue lineups, Bandcamp, RateYourMusic, and newer social tools (e.g., volt.fm) are preferred by some over algorithmic feeds.
  • Pandora- and Spotify-style similarity-by-audio-feature recommendations are often described as bland or repetitive.

Data, Quantified Self & Critiques

  • Scrobbling is framed as part of the “quantified self”; some love long-term listening histories, others feel Spotify’s yearly Wrapped is enough.
  • There’s annoyance that platforms “withhold” rich data while hyping Wrapped, though others note Spotify’s full export feature.
  • Specific Last.fm issues include artist-name conflation, post-acquisition product changes (loss of built-in radio/player and customization), spammy or hateful user tags, and stalled API evolution.