Last.fm releases stats todat that its says proves that free on demand full song streams have a direct impact on sales. Since this additional service launched on the site in January, overall CD and download sales through Last.fm's partnership with Amazon.com increased 119%.
Alongside an increase in overall visitors, which has spiked since the site started offering catalog access, Last.fm says the jump was also fueled by existing users purchasing 66% more albums and tracks than they did prior to the launch of free-on-demand music. Last.fm also has affiliate deals with iTunes and 7Digital...
but no figures were released from those partnerships.
These affiliate deals enable users to buy both CDs and downloads from a catalog that includes all four majors and thousands of independent labels and artists. Affiliate links on the site’s music players allow users to click through from any song they’re listening to and buy individual tracks or full albums from any of those partners.
According to Martin Stiksel, Last.fm Co-Founder, this demonstrates that giving users free access to streaming songs encourages music purchasing. "In just over two months it's become clear that people will buy CDs and downloads if they get access to the kind of service we offer. No one else can give music fans this amount of music for free — but more importantly also drive their discovery, as we do through our unique recommendation engine. That’s why people are sticking around on Last.fm — minutes spent on site are up 118% month-on-month — and discovering new music to listen to and buy."
