Enable Last.fm, song reporting and Last.fm radio
Paul Cutler
pcutler@gnome.org

# Last.fm

Last.fm is a popular online service that offers both free and paid versions. Last.fm offers information on music artists and albums and if you create a user profile Last.fm allows you to track the music you listen to in Banshee for free. If you subscribe as a paying member, you can also listen to streaming music from Last.fm in various music clients, including Banshee. Last.fm offers multiple channels to stream, including recommended music for you based on your listening habits, your favourites and more.

# Enable Last.fm

To get the most out of Last.fm, you will want to create a Last.fm profile. Visit http://www.last.fm/join to create an account or choose Edit Preferences from the Banshee menu. Once in the preferences select the Source Specific tab, press the Source drop down menu, choose Last.fm and finally select the Sign up for Last.fm link.

To enable Banshee to report the songs you play on your computer to Last.fm, sign in to Last.fm in Banshee in the Source Specific preferences. Enter your username and press the Log in to Last.fm button. You will be directed to a Last.fm webpage in your browser to grant Banshee access. Press the Yes, allow access link in your browser and you will be redirected to a webpage that displays a message that Banshee now has access to Last.fm. Return to Banshee and press the Finish Logging In button to complete the process.

# Enable Last.fm Song Reporting From Banshee

After you have successfully linked Banshee to your Last.fm profile you must ensure that you have enabled Banshee to report your songs. To enable Banshee to report the songs to your Last.fm profile go to Banshee's preferences, select the Source Specific tab, select Last.fm from the dropdown, and press the Enable Song Reporting From Banshee checkbox. If you have an active internet connection Banshee will now send Last.fm information regarding the songs you play. To view your play history visit your profile on the Last.fm website. Last.fm will automatically update your music metadata if any of your artist, song title, or album information is incorrect (although we recommend that you use the Metadata Fixer extension to correct your files instead).

# Enable Last.fm Song Reporting From Your Device

After successfully linking Banshee to your Last.fm profile and enabling Banshee to report songs to Last.fm you can also enable scrobbling from a connected device. Banshee will, upon connection of your device, attempt to scrobble the songs you have played since the device was last connected and submit them to Last.fm.

To enable scrobbling of a connected device go to Banshee's preferences, select the Source Specific tab, select Last.fm from the dropdown, and press the Enable Song Reporting From Device checkbox. If you have an active internet connection Banshee will, upon connection of your device, now attempt to gather information regarding the songs that you have played since it was last connected.

As with regular Banshee scrobbling submissions Last.fm will automatically update your music metadata if any of your artist, title, or album information is incorrect (although we again recommend that you use the Metadata Fixer extension to correct your files instead).

Please note that currently Banshee only supports this feature with Apple products that are supported by the AppleDevice extension.

# Listen to Last.fm Radio

Last.fm radio is free for residents of the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Residents of other countries will have to pay for a premium account with Last.fm to listen to radio. Premium members, in all countries, also receive premium radio features: listening to playlists and stations of music you've loved or tagged.

In Banshee's sources pane on the left hand side, you will now have a Last.fm section, including your Last.fm radio stations. You will need an active internet connection to listen to Last.fm radio. Choose the radio station you wish to listen to and Banshee will communicate with Last.fm to populate songs for that radio station. Press the Play button in Banshee or Spacebar to start streaming a Last.fm radio station. You can also press the Next button in Banshee, N or choose Playback Next to play the next song in your radio station queue.