Radio Evolving

The radio dial used to be tightly defined by its numbered frequencies. But the boundaries are shifting beyond those limits, and old and new platforms are merging.

Last.fm, a popular online music Web site, will launch as an HD broadcast station that will air through CBS radio stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, starting Oct. 5.

Last.fm, now seven years old, is owned by CBS Corporation. The music discovery site makes recommendations to its users based on the kinds of music and artists they like.

The playlist for the new HD version will be be a mix of music shaped by the site's user-generated weekly charts. The station will also stream online.

And last week's unveiling of a new version of Apple's iPod Nano – which now comes with an FM radio tuner - gives commercial radio stations a boost by giving them a chance to reconnect with listeners they might have lost to portable music players. Wireless reception gives listeners the option of listening to radio on the go instead of their own music collections and downloads.

Listeners can tag songs they hear on their favorite station and buy them from iTunes through the “Buy From FM” platform.