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FM TAGGING, PERSONALIZED “CHANNELS” COMING TO ZUNE: Microsoft’s portable media player and FM-ready Zune will be able to tag, purchase, and download songs heard on the radio starting September 19. Stations operated by Beasley, Bonneville, CBS Radio, Citadel, Clear Channel Radio, Cox Radio, Emmis, Entercom and Greater Media will make song tagging available. Apple’s iPod has similar functionality available, though only via HD Radio signals. The newly-updated Zune will reportedly feature expert-programed “theme channels,” (e.g. “work-out” music). There’s more in CNet here.

TARGETSPOT CEO: PAYOLA COULD SAVE WEBCASTERS: Doug Perlson, CEO of TargetSpot, agrees with SoundExchange’s Jon Simson that webcasters need to bring in more revenue — but Perlson sees that money coming in from a modernized (and legal) version of the old radio bugaboo, payola. His logic? Because Internet radio broadcasters pay a royalty for the music they play, they should recover some of the cost by charging labels for the promotional service they provide. His essay is in Silicon Alley Insider here. Wired’s Eliot Van Buskirk (here) doesn’t agree however, writing, “If these royalty rates kill the programming integrity of online radio by forcing webcasters to accept payola, listeners will have another reason to return to peer-to-peer networks.”

“FAMILY GUY” CREATOR LAUNCHING WEB SERIES VIA GOOGLE: Today, “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane will debut his “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy,” on Google, making dozens of his cartoon short features available via the Internet. MacFarlane is the first major entertainment producer to create material for Google. According to The Wall Street Journal (here) (subscription may be required), 50 clips are slated to run, one new one per week, on sites Sethcomedy.com, YouTube, and more. In addition, “Google will deliver ‘Cavalcade’ clips to pages visited primarily by 18- to 34-year-old men,” like Fandango.com or Maxim’s website. The paper writes, “The project could change the way entertainment is distributed on the Web.”

SALEM’S SRN LAUNCHES NEWS SITE: Salem Communications’ Salem Radio Network has announced the launch of SRNnews.com, a news website focusing on national and world news, “faith-based stories” from the nation’s Capitol, and SRN News podcasts. The site will feature Internet-exclusive material from SRN’s top correspondents.

EDISON’S WEBSTER ADDS STRATEGY & MARKETING DUTIES: Edison Media Research has promoted Tom Webster to Vice President, Strategy and Marketing. Webster is known as an expert on Internet radio, podcasting and music recommendation engines. Webster’s duties, according to a company press release, “will include guiding the Internet strategies of new and existing clients, as well as directing Edison’s own online and marketing initiatives.” Read the announcement here.

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