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How To

How to: Fix Last.fm iPod scrobbling problems

Tom Clarke

Tom Clarke

  • Updated:

Last.fm logoLast.fm might not be the darling of the free internet radio world anymore – especially given that Spotify seems to have more tracks available to listen to. But what Last.fm still does better than any other service is statistics: nowhere else can I track what music I’ve been listening to for the last few years, and find people with similar tastes. So when Last.fm added support for iPod ‘scrobbling’ in 2008, I was happier than ever!

For a while, iPod scrobbling seemed to work fine. But at the end of last year, I noticed that whenever I connected my iPod to my work PC, Last.fm would report No scrobbles found on your iPod, which could be seriously annoying when I’d actually been away listening to Royal Trux for a whole week. I’ve finally fixed the problem and I thought I’d share my method.

1 – Delete your iPod from Last.fm

It’s a good idea to start from scratch if your having problems with your iPod and Last.fm. Simply open the Last.fm client, hit Ctrl+O, select ‘iPod’ and then click Clear user associations.

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2 – Make sure everything starts in the correct order

In order to get last.fm to scrobble your iPod, you’ll need to check that the different programs involved launch in the right order. The order you want to achieve is: Connect iPod > iTunes starts automatically > Last.fm starts automatically. If you have iTunes and Last.fm starting in a different order, you might well find that Last.fm has problems identifying your iPod scrobbles.

To check that you have everything set up to launch in the correct order, make sure that iTunes is set to start when your iPod is connected. Select your iPod and make sure Open iTunes when this iPod is attached is checked:

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3 – Check that iTunesHelper is running at startup

If you’re anything like me, you’ll visit the System Configuration Utility (AKA msconfig) every few months, looking for background services that can be disabled. Like me, you might well have deactivated iTunesHelper, thinking that your iTunes didn’t need any help, thank you very much. What iTunesHelper does is spot whether you’ve connected an iPod or iPhone, and tell iTunes to start if you’ve activated that option (see step 2).

To check that iTunesHelper is running at startup, open the System Configuration Utility (hit the Start button, select Run, enter the command msconfig and hit enter. Now select the Startup tab and check to see whether iTunesHelper is present and correctly checked. If you can’t find it, you’ll need to uninstall and reinstall iTunes.

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Tom Clarke

Tom Clarke

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