diff --git a/plugins/lastfm.py b/plugins/lastfm.py
index 89f590d..4e77f65 100644
--- a/plugins/lastfm.py
+++ b/plugins/lastfm.py
@@ -1,13 +1,19 @@
+'''
+The Last.fm API key is retrieved from the bot config file.
+'''
+
 from util import hook, http
 
 
-api_key = ""
-
 api_url = "http://ws.audioscrobbler.com/2.0/?format=json"
 
 
 @hook.command
-def lastfm(inp, nick='', say=None):
+def lastfm(inp, nick='', say=None, bot=None):
+    api_key = bot.config.get("api_keys", {}).get("lastfm", None)
+    if not api_key:
+        return None
+
     if inp:
         user = inp
     else:
@@ -20,13 +26,13 @@ def lastfm(inp, nick='', say=None):
         if inp:  # specified a user name
             return "error: %s" % response["message"]
         else:
-            return "your nick is not a LastFM account. try '.lastfm username'."
+            return "your nick is not a Last.fm account. try '.lastfm username'."
+
+    if not "track" in response["recenttracks"] or len(response["recenttracks"]["track"]) == 0:
+        return "no recent tracks for user \x02%s\x0F found" % user
 
     tracks = response["recenttracks"]["track"]
 
-    if len(tracks) == 0:
-        return "no recent tracks for user %r found" % user
-
     if type(tracks) == list:
         # if the user is listening to something, the tracks entry is a list
         # the first item is the current track