Last.fm launched their new design last night. It is a massive update impacting all sections of the site. It is not just a facelift, it is a total revamp changing user interaction and features.

The site has been growing organically since 2002 and has a massive fan base and today they revolted. Poor Matthew had to close the commenting section on their blog after 2000 users mostly spit on all their hard work.

I feel for them, and I actually think the new site is better from a usability perspective. I was a big fan of the old site and often referred to it as one of the few successful implementations of a semi fluid layout available. The design was close to perfect too.
The thing that bothers me the most is that now there is a mix of fluid and fixed layouts. The home page and events page are fluid while most of the others are fixed

It is a bold move jumping of the web 2.0 design trend bandwagon with the rounded corners and flair to a more natural paint like effect. Unlike the fan base, Last.fm has their finger on the web design pulse.
It is a bit slow and needs some tweaking, but again, it is growing on me.

I might be a bit soft as I got the ticket for Leonard Cohen (who is a genius by the way) through my Last.fm friend Björgvin who noticed the old man on my charts.

By the way, if you have not checked out the events section, you are missing out, as this is the best listing for live music available.

Rock on Last.fm, the users will get over it soon enough.