Last Fm vs Music Studio
A side-by-side look at the Last Fm and Music Studio MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Last Fm for art & culture work as a local process; choose Music Studio for art & culture as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Last Fm when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
PLATFORM_LASTFM_KEY. - You want tools like
artist_info, artist_top_tracks, artist_similar.
Choose Music Studio when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
play-sheet-music, play-live-pattern, get-session.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Art & Culture | Art & Culture |
| Quality signal | 60/100 · Good | 63/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | No auth required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | PLATFORM_LASTFM_KEY | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 1 | 75 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 9 | 10 |
| Full listing | View Last Fm | View Music Studio |
Tools & capabilities
Last Fm tools 9
artist_infoFetch Last.fm artist profile by name (or MusicBrainz ID): biography, listener/play counts, similar artists, and genre tags; optionally in a specified language.artist_top_tracksMost-played tracks for an artist.artist_similarSimilar artists.album_infoFetch Last.fm album metadata by artist and album name (or MusicBrainz ID): track listing, listener/play counts, wiki summary, and genre tags.track_infoFetch Last.fm track metadata by artist and track name (or MusicBrainz ID): duration, listener/play counts, genre tags, and wiki summary.track_searchSearch Last.fm for tracks matching a keyword query; returns ranked results with artist, track name, and listener counts.user_top_tracksFetch a SPECIFIC NAMED Last.fm user's most-scrobbled tracks for a given period (overall/7day/1month/3month/6month/12month) — only when the question names a Last.fm username; NEVER for general "popular songs / top music" questions (use chart_top_artists or tag_top_artists for those) and never with a guessed or example username. Returns track names, artists, and play counts.tag_top_artistsFetch the top Last.fm artists for a genre tag (e.g. 'rock', 'electronic'); returns ranked artist names with listener counts.chart_top_artistsThe world's most-popular music right now — global top artists by listener count. PREFER for "recommend popular music", "top songs / top artists this year", "what music is trending", "popular songs 2026" and any general most-popular-music question (for a GENRE use tag_top_artists; for one NAMED user's history use the user_* tools). Keyless, returns ranked artist names with listener and play counts.
Music Studio tools 10
play-sheet-musicDraw and play a score written in ABC notationplay-live-patternOpen a live-coding player for Strudel code, optionally as a live sessionget-sessionRead what happened in a live session, or wait until the person listening presses Passupdate-sessionSwap new code into a live session's player on the next bar or phraseget-music-guideReference for ABC notation: syntax, instruments, styles, genresget-strudel-guideReference for Strudel: sounds, effects, visuals, stage, gallery piecessearch-music-docsSearch the Strudel and abcjs documentationanalyze-harmonyName chords, find the key, build progressionsconvert-abc-to-strudelTurn a scored melody into a Strudel patterncreate-share-linkStore a piece for 30 days and return a link anyone can open
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Last Fm
{
"mcpServers": {
"last-fm-2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-last-fm"
],
"env": {
"PLATFORM_LASTFM_KEY": "YOUR_PLATFORM_LASTFM_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Music Studio
{
"mcpServers": {
"music-studio": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-music-studio"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Last Fm is categorized under Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Music Studio belongs to Art & Culture and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Last Fm for art & culture work and Music Studio for art & culture.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Last Fm has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Music Studio is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add last-fm-2 and music-studio as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Last Fm has a quality signal of 60/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars. Music Studio has 63/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 75 GitHub stars.