On the record

Jim Carrollon music.

MySpace looks a bargain after CBS deal

If you're one of the 15 million people who have been using the Last.fm online music service to discover new bands and tunes since 2002, it may be interesting to know that you're worth just under $20 (€15) to the company.

Last week, US media giant CBS Corporation splashed out $280 million (€207.2m) on the online network where music fans build personalised radio stations and get recommendations on new acts based on their own musical likes.

Based on the per-user spend, it makes the $580 million (€429.3m) paid by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation for the MySpace social networking site in 2005, which had 54 million active users at the time of the sale, look like a bit of a Web 2.0 bargain.

However, what's interesting about the Last.fm sale is not so much the size of the deal, but who's doing the buying. Like the News Corporation swoop on MySpace, the CBS/Last.fm deal shows that old media groups are willing to take an online punt to protect their necks from new economic and social realities. That CBS, the largest radio group in the US which has considerable interests in TV, see value in Last.fm's social network is hugely telling.

Of course, the fact that Last.fm has built up its user base and value on the back of music should not be lost on anyone, especially those whose job it is to make money for various record labels.

Yet again, it shows that the record industry's initial failure to engage with technology and telecommunications companies will turn out to be a costly one. By not getting on side and working in tandem with the tech turks at the outset, the industry lost the initiative and, worse, the goodwill of all involved. It should have bought lunch, instead of sending in pin-striped legal eagles clutching cease-and-desist letters.

This failure to take the lead is something Last.fm co-founder Martin Stiksel hinted at when speaking about the deal. "When we started in the dire days of 2002, no-one wanted to put any money into online music because Napster had just been sued into submission."

Five years on, it's a different story. Last.fm will not be the last big-bucks deal involving online companies who've built their customer-base and value using music. Just a pity the same can't be said of the music companies.

Special date for Derry

While many Irish clubbers will be packing their bags and brushing up on their Catalan ahead of next week's Sonar festival in Barcelona, others will be relishing the return of the Celtronic festival to Derry later this month.

Celtronic has slowly grown in size and stature over the last six years. This year, it will run in various venues throughout the city from June 27th to July 1st, with headliners including Erol Alkan (right), Radioactive Man, Jerry Dammers (the Specials man will be returning to the north-east with the most rocking reggae collection around) and new house hero Jimpster from The Bays.

There's also a wealth of local northern talent including The Japanese Popstars, Alloy Mental's Phil Kieran and the Sirocco Allstars. Best of all, a festival pass costs just £25. More information from myspace.com/celtronic2007

Pluck off: guitars galore

It's the summer of the guitar. Glenn Branca's forthcoming visit to Dublin for the Analog festival on July 15th will see the New York composer instructing 100 local guitar slingers for a performance of Hallucination City.

Meanwhile, some of the most prestigious guitar maestros in Europe will be plucking strings at the Walton's Guitar Festival of Ireland later this month in the capital.

Those taking part in this year's festival from June 27th to July 1st include Anniello Desiderio, John Feeley and Berta Rojas.

The centrepiece of the festival will be a performance by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet at the National Concert Hall. More information from guitarfestivalofireland.com

Hebden back in Fridge

Not content with following his Four Tet star and collaborating with legendary US jazz drummer Terry Reid, Kieran Hebden has now reconvened his first band Fridge for their first tour in six years.

The reason for this burst of activity is a new album called The Sun released this week. Previous albums from the band, who formed at the same south London school as Hot Chip, such as Ceefax, Eph and Happiness, saw the band gathering much acclaim from critics for their post-rock adventures.

They even moonlighted for a spell as Badly Drawn Boy's backing band.

Fridge play the Village, Dublin on August 16th.