The Acquisitions Frenzy Continues: Photobucket, Flektor, Last.fm
We’ve entered a mad phase of acquisitions, and there’s no sign that it will abate anytime soon.
Consider today: Fox Interactive Media has announced the acquisition of Photobucket (which has been in the works for a while) and Flektor, a nifty little video- and audio-editing service.
The big picture: MySpace (which is owned by Fox) is beginning to gobble up some of the more popular (Photobucket) and innovative (Flektor) services that were born of and thrive within its orbit.
Also announced today: CBS is to buy music social network Last.fm for a reported $280 million.
The big picture here is that traditional media is now delving wildly into new media via acquisitions in an attempt to stay relevant and profitable long-term.
Last.fm has long been a favorite of the music-loving web 2.0 set. Its social networking and music recommendation capabilities set it apart amidst a sea teeming with music widgets, streaming services, and MySpace also-rans.
Last.fm’s purchase in particular really does signal yet another clear sign that the whole game has changed, that traditional “one way” communication popularized by the rise of television is over, and the new era of interactive and, more importantly, community-powered entertainment- and information-services is now dominant.
Business 2.0 Beta makes the great point that CBS should use this opportunity to let the Last.fm community control the programming at moribund terrestrial radio stations.
And that’s just the beginning. I wonder what will be next.
