Last.fm founders stepping down

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Last.fm’s three co-founders have announced that they’re stepping down. In a post on the company’s blog, they explain that “After two years running Last.fm within CBS we feel the time is right to begin the process of handing over the reins”.

They go on to point out that the site’s users have more than doubled in the last 12 months, to 37.3 million monthly unique visitors. “We’re confident the site will continue to go from strength to strength. Being a part of CBS, and the recently formed CBSi music group, continues to open up many opportunities for Last.fm. Recent product releases such as the new visual radio, and the Last.fm on XBox announcement, are an indication of how much more Last.fm will achieve.”

It’s inevitable that speculation around their decision to step down will focus around the recent spat with US tech blog TechCrunch, which claimed parent company CBS passed Last.fm user data to the RIAA without the site’s agreement.

All concerned have denied that this happened, so the timing of the founders’ departure may just be unfortunate. What may be more relevant is that CBS acquired Last.fm on 30th May 2007, suggesting that the three founders may have agreed to a two-year earn-out period.

This is a breaking story, so we’ll update this post with further details as they emerge.