🎵 Last.fm Scraper - Music Charts, Artist Stats & Scrobble Data

🚀 Export Last.fm top tracks and artists charts in seconds. Get real-time listener counts, play counts, and genre tags for the top 20 tracks and artists from Last.fm's global charts.

🕒 Last updated: 2026-05-22 · 📊 9 fields per track record · 10 fields per artist record · Real-time data · Global charts

The Last.fm Scraper pulls live chart data directly from Last.fm's public charts pages. For each charting track, you get the listener count, total scrobble count, album name, cover art, and direct URL. For each artist, you get listeners, total scrobbles, genre tags, and artist photo. No API key required - just click Run.

Data is sourced from Last.fm's server-rendered HTML charts at last.fm/charts, the same data powering the official Last.fm music charts used by millions of music fans worldwide. Records are always live, never cached.

Target Audience / Use Cases

Who	Why
Music researchers	Track which tracks and artists are trending globally right now
Playlist curators	Discover the most-scrobbled tracks to build chart-based playlists
Music journalists	Get live listener and play count data to back up chart reporting
Marketers	Identify trending artists for influencer and sponsorship opportunities
Data scientists	Build datasets of music popularity over time
Developers	Enrich music apps with real-time chart data from Last.fm

📋 What the Last.fm Scraper does

• Fetches the Top Tracks chart with rank, track name, artist, album, listeners, and scrobble count
• Fetches the Top Artists chart with rank, artist name, listeners, total scrobbles, and genre tags
• Enriches each chart entry with full stats from the individual track or artist detail page
• Upgrades cover art and artist photos to high-resolution 300x300 images
• Processes up to 20 items per chart run (the full Last.fm global chart)
• Exports to CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML for immediate downstream use

💡 Why it matters: Last.fm has over 300 million registered users and tracks billions of song plays. Its scrobble data represents real listening behavior - not just streams or purchases. This actor gives you programmatic access to that signal in seconds.

🎬 Full Demo

🚧 Coming soon

⚙️ Input

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
chartType	select	No	tracks	Which chart: tracks or artists
maxItems	integer	No	10	Max items to return (free: capped at 10, paid: up to 20)

Top tracks example:

{
  "chartType": "tracks",
  "maxItems": 10
}

Top artists example:

{
  "chartType": "artists",
  "maxItems": 20
}

⚠️ Good to Know: Last.fm's global charts reflect real-time scrobbling activity. The top 20 positions update frequently - especially during album releases and major events. The actor captures whatever is ranked at the moment of the run.

📊 Output

Track fields

Field	Format	Description
🖼️ imageUrl	URL	Album cover art (300x300)
🎵 trackName	string	Track title
🎤 artistName	string	Artist name
💿 albumName	string	Album the track belongs to
🏆 rank	integer	Chart position (1 = highest)
👥 listeners	integer	Unique Last.fm listeners
🔁 playCount	integer	Total scrobbles (all-time play count)
🔗 url	URL	Last.fm track page URL
🕵️ scrapedAt	ISO 8601	When the record was collected
❌ error	string	Error message if this item failed (null on success)

Artist fields

Field	Format	Description
🖼️ imageUrl	URL	Artist photo (300x300)
🎤 artistName	string	Artist name
🏆 rank	integer	Chart position (1 = highest)
👥 listeners	integer	Unique Last.fm listeners
🔁 playCount	integer	Total scrobbles (all-time play count)
🏷️ tags	string[]	Genre tags (e.g. ["k-pop", "pop", "kpop"])
🔗 url	URL	Last.fm artist page URL
🕵️ scrapedAt	ISO 8601	When the record was collected
❌ error	string	Error message if this item failed (null on success)

Sample track records (from live cloud run 2026-05-22):

[
  {
    "imageUrl": "https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/300x300/89799c9f5b5d06b42af8eb129d68896e.jpg",
    "trackName": "SWIM",
    "artistName": "BTS",
    "albumName": "ARIRANG",
    "rank": 1,
    "listeners": 448286,
    "playCount": 179272535,
    "url": "https://www.last.fm/music/BTS/_/SWIM",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-05-22T03:33:52.788Z",
    "error": null
  },
  {
    "imageUrl": "https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/300x300/89799c9f5b5d06b42af8eb129d68896e.jpg",
    "trackName": "Merry Go Round",
    "artistName": "BTS",
    "albumName": "ARIRANG",
    "rank": 2,
    "listeners": 317539,
    "playCount": 45975072,
    "url": "https://www.last.fm/music/BTS/_/Merry+Go+Round",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-05-22T03:33:58.728Z",
    "error": null
  },
  {
    "imageUrl": "https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/300x300/89799c9f5b5d06b42af8eb129d68896e.jpg",
    "trackName": "FYA",
    "artistName": "BTS",
    "albumName": "ARIRANG",
    "rank": 4,
    "listeners": 352116,
    "playCount": 47826021,
    "url": "https://www.last.fm/music/BTS/_/FYA",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-05-22T03:34:07.584Z",
    "error": null
  }
]

Sample artist records (from live cloud run 2026-05-22):

[
  {
    "imageUrl": "https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/300x300/6d8a76d7769646d336561e6d13abf894.jpg",
    "artistName": "Drake",
    "rank": 2,
    "listeners": 6770303,
    "playCount": 1196974300,
    "tags": ["hip-hop", "rap", "drake", "rnb", "hip hop"],
    "url": "https://www.last.fm/music/Drake",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-05-22T03:34:50.519Z",
    "error": null
  },
  {
    "imageUrl": "https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/300x300/22801885c5e71903aa0172f4c4318620.jpg",
    "artistName": "Charli xcx",
    "rank": 3,
    "listeners": 3805189,
    "playCount": 730839362,
    "tags": ["pop", "synthpop", "electronic", "electropop", "bubblegum bass"],
    "url": "https://www.last.fm/music/Charli+xcx",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-05-22T03:34:55.222Z",
    "error": null
  }
]

✨ Why choose this Actor

Feature	Benefit
🔓 No API key required	Run immediately - no Last.fm account or API registration needed
📊 Real scrobble counts	Listener counts and total play counts from actual listening data
🏷️ Genre tags	Per-artist genre taxonomy from Last.fm's community tagging system
🖼️ High-res images	Album art and artist photos at 300x300 (upgraded from chart thumbnails)
📡 Live data	Chart positions and stats reflect real-time listening - not cached
📦 Export-ready	CSV, Excel, JSON, XML output with no post-processing needed

📈 How it compares to alternatives

Feature	This Actor	Last.fm API	Manual scraping
API key required	No	Yes (registration)	No
Listeners + scrobbles	Yes	Yes	Manual
Genre tags	Yes	Yes	Manual
Chart position	Yes	Yes (separate call)	Manual
High-res images	Yes	Varies	Manual
Export to CSV/Excel	Yes	No	No
Pay-per-use pricing	Yes	Free (rate limited)	Free

🚀 How to use

1. Create a free account w/ $5 credit on Apify
2. Open the Last.fm Scraper actor page
3. Set chartType to tracks or artists
4. Set maxItems (1-20, default 10)
5. Click Start and wait for the run to complete (typically under 60 seconds)
6. Download your dataset as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML

💼 Business use cases

Music industry analytics

Label A&R teams use chart data to identify breakout tracks before they peak. Monitoring weekly chart positions alongside listener-to-scrobble ratios reveals whether a track has a loyal core fanbase or broad casual appeal.

Streaming playlist curation

Playlist curators at DSPs and editorial teams use Last.fm scrobble data as a proxy for deep engagement - a track with high scrobbles relative to listeners is being replayed constantly, a strong signal for "lean-back" playlist placement.

Music journalism and reporting

Journalists covering music trends can verify listener counts and chart positions with a single click, embedding live stats directly into articles without manually checking Last.fm for each artist.

Marketing and influencer identification

Brands partnering with artists can use listener counts as a baseline for audience size estimation. Genre tags help segment artists by niche for targeted campaign planning.

🔌 Automating Last.fm Scraper

Connect this actor to your workflow tools:

• Make (Integromat): Schedule daily runs and pipe new chart entries into a Google Sheet
• Zapier: Trigger a Slack notification whenever a new artist enters the top 5
• Webhook: POST results to your own endpoint for real-time dashboard updates
• Apify Scheduler: Set up automated runs to capture chart snapshots at regular intervals

🌟 Beyond business use cases

Music research and academia

Researchers studying music consumption patterns, genre evolution, or regional trends can use scrobble data as a quantitative measure of listening engagement over time.

Personal music discovery

Music fans can run the scraper to discover what the global Last.fm community is listening to right now - a signal based on actual plays rather than algorithmic recommendations.

Developer projects

Build a personal chart tracker, embed live stats into a Discord bot, or populate a music visualization project with real scrobble data without writing a scraper yourself.

Non-profit and education

Music educators and non-profits studying popular culture can access structured chart data without needing a Last.fm API key or technical scraping knowledge.

🤖 Ask an AI assistant about this scraper

Not sure what field you need or how to use the data? Try asking:

• "What does the playCount field represent in Last.fm data?"
• "How is listeners different from playCount?"
• "Can I use this scraper to track chart changes over time?"
• "What genre tags are typically returned for hip-hop artists?"

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

🔑 Does this require a Last.fm API key?

No. The actor scrapes Last.fm's public chart pages - no API key or account needed.

📊 How many items can I get?

Last.fm shows 20 items per chart. Free users get up to 10 items. Paid users can request up to 20.

⏱️ How long does a run take?

A typical run of 5-10 items completes in under 30 seconds. A full 20-item run takes about 60 seconds.

🔄 How often does the chart update?

Last.fm charts update in near real-time based on scrobbling activity. Running the actor at different times will capture different rankings.

🎤 Can I get artist details like biography?

The actor provides listeners, total scrobbles, genre tags, and artist photo. Biography text is loaded via JavaScript on Last.fm and is not included in the current version.

🌍 Is this global or regional data?

The current version scrapes the global charts. Last.fm also has country-specific charts which may be added in a future version.

💿 What is the difference between listeners and playCount?

listeners is the number of unique Last.fm users who have scrobbled the track/artist. playCount is the total number of times it has been played across all users (scrobbles).

📸 What resolution are the images?

Cover art and artist photos are returned at 300x300 pixels, upgraded from the smaller thumbnails shown in the chart table.

🏷️ What are tags?

Tags (artists only) are genre and descriptive labels applied by the Last.fm community. They reflect community consensus about an artist's genre, style, or era.

🆓 Is the data available for commercial use?

The data comes from Last.fm's publicly accessible pages. Review Last.fm's terms of service for commercial usage policies. This actor is a data extraction tool - responsibility for how you use the data rests with you.

❌ What happens if a track or artist page returns an error?

The actor includes retry logic. If a page fails after 3 attempts, the item is recorded with the error field populated. The run continues with remaining items.

🔌 Integrate with any app

Last.fm chart data can be connected to hundreds of tools via Apify's integration ecosystem:

Productivity & Spreadsheets: Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, Airtable, Notion Workflow Automation: Make (Integromat), Zapier, n8n, Pipedream Business Intelligence: Power BI, Tableau, Google Looker Studio, Metabase Data Pipelines: Snowflake, BigQuery, PostgreSQL, MongoDB Communication: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord Storage: AWS S3, Google Drive, Dropbox Custom: REST API, Webhooks, Python/JavaScript SDK

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💡 Pro Tip: browse the complete ParseForge collection for 100+ specialized data scrapers across music, sports, finance, travel, and more.

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This actor scrapes publicly accessible pages on Last.fm. It does not access private data, user accounts, or any data behind authentication. Use in accordance with Last.fm's Terms of Service.