Now you can rock 'n' go with personalized Internet radio

LOS ANGELES -- Personalized Internet radio is expanding from the PC to portable devices.

"The whole world is moving in this direction," says Kurt Hanson, editor of RAIN (Radio And Internet Newsletter).

Ad revenue for Net radio will top $50 million this year, according to JPMorgan. That doesn't include traditional radio broadcasters who also webcast.

Net radio's future, which looked dismal earlier in the year after new copyright royalties were instituted, is apparently back on track. The proposed fees were so high many stations said they would be forced to go out of business. But Hansen says stations and record labels have been negotiating a settlement and are close to coming to terms.

Pandora, one of the Net broadcasters that said it couldn't continue under the new rules, is still at it, pumping out music based on a listener's taste. "We believe it's going to be fixed," founder Tim Westergren says of the royalty dispute.

Pandora attracted 3.3 million Internet listeners in October, according to measurement service ComScore Media Metrix. It expanded to Sprint phones in the spring with a low-key offering that is barely mentioned on Sprint's website. AT&T is offering the same low-key approach, with little marketing on the Web but instead an offer on the phone itself to sign up. Westergren says the carriers are treading cautiously to make sure the phones work well with Pandora.

"When you get personalized radio wherever you are, that's when we're able to redefine radio," Westergren says.