Last.fm to axe 20 staff as CBS cuts costs

by Dan Leahul, Brand Republic 12-Dec-08, 12:10

LONDON - Social media music site Last.fm is to make as many as 20 staff redundant at its North London offices after parent company CBS cut an undisclosed number of jobs in its Interactive division.

The company said the number of layoffs would be about 20, but failed to give an exact figure or where the cuts will be made. Some sources said as much as 40 could be affected.

Last.fm currently employees 95 staff with headquarters in Shoreditch. The company declined to comment on the layoffs.

The company was found six years ago by Martin Stiksel, Felix Miller and Richard Jones and has more than 15m active users, who share music and find friends online with similar tastes.

US broadcaster CBS acquired Last.fm in 2007 for $280m (£141m) but has since failed to develop a steady stream of revenue.

The cuts being made by CBS across its interactive division follow its $1.8bn acquisition of digital media firm CNET in May for $1.8bn.

The deal gave CBS control of a number of websites, including CNET, ZDNet, GameSpot.com and TV.com.

The acquisitions of Lastfm and CNET followed those of celebrity gossip blog called Dotspotter and financial videoblog WallStrip.