Lady Gaga's Poker Face tops 'guilty pleasures' chart
The music social network works by registering the songs members play on their computers, via programs such as iTunes and Spotify, and now via a new iPhone app, a process it calls scrobbling.
Data showed that scrobbles of Poker Face, from Lady Gagas 2008 debut album, were deleted most by Last.fm members apparently embarrassed that their friends might see their taste for bubblegum pop.
Last.fm, a founding member of the cluster of technology start-ups in Shoreditch that has latterly received government cash and been branded as Tech City, released the figures to celebrate a decade online. It was launched in 2002, before even MySpace, and quickly won a fan base among music aficionados by making it easy for them to track their listening and keep up with friends.
The first track ever scrobbled was Nina Simone's version of My Way.
Today it claims 40 million members around the world, but British artists have dominated its first 10 years. Six of the top 10 most popular songs were by UK bands, including three Coldplay tracks. Nirvanas Smells Like Teen Spirit came out number one, however.
The data also show how the end of an artists career can give their popularity a massive boost. Michael Jacksons death in 2009 massively boosted his popularity among Last.fm members, with his songs played more than a million times the following day, having previously hovered at under 50,000.
Last.fm was acquired by the American media group CBS in 2007 for 140m. The deal was among the first big social media deal but has since been viewed as a failure, as the advertising-funded service has never turned a profit.
Last.fm's most popular songs of the decade
1. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana2. Wonderwall - Oasis3. Mr Brightside - The Killers4. Come As You Are - Nirvana5. Clocks - Coldplay6. Somebody Told Me - The Killers7. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand8. Karma Police - Radiohead9. Viva La Vida - Coldplay1! 0. Yellow - Coldplay
Last.fm's most popular artists of the decade
1. Coldplay2. Radiohead3. Red Hot Chilli Peppers4. The Killers5. Rihanna6. Eminem7. Nirvana8. Kanye West9. Muse10. Foo Fighters