By removing SoundExchange (the middleman) from the process Last.fm says artist who sign up will receive more than twice the royalty rate they normally would if their material was played on commercial radio. So how much are artists getting paid? Well that depends on where you track is played (see FAQs below) but it can be as much as “10% of the Share of Last.fm’s Net Revenue from the free radio service.” What Last.fm has done is further prove to up-and-coming artists and indie artists (in some cases small labels) that they don’t need a record label to succeed.

Last.fm’s tiered royalty rates (from FAQs):

* If your track is played on our free radio service you will accrue a 10% of the Share of Last.fm’s Net Revenue (see the definition of “Share” and “Net Revenue” in the terms and conditions) from the free radio service.
* If your track is played on our personalised premium radio service, you will accrue the greater of either 10% of the Share of Last.fm’s Net Revenue from the personalised radio service, or US $0.0005 for each complete transmission on the personalised radio service.
* If your track is played on our free on-demand service, you will accrue 30% of the Share of Last.fm’s Net Revenue from the on-demand radio service.
* If your track is played on our premium on-demand service, you will accrue the greater of either 30% of the Share of Last.fm’s Net Revenue from the premium on-demand service, or US $0.005 for each complete transmission on the prepaid or subscription on-demand service.