Imagine Radio offer Web-only programming.

MTV Online is buying Imagine Radio, according to sources close to the Brisbane, Calif.-based Imagine. The Web division of the Viacom-owned cable music channel was rumored to be shopping around for an Internet radio station late last month, with an eye on either Spinner.com or Imagine, but Spinner.com and MTV reportedly couldn_t agree on a price. Spinner.com recently announced a completed round of financing to the tune of $12 million from investors Sony Music Entertainment, Intel and Amerindo Investment Advisors. Imagine Radio was launched in March of last year by Imagine Media, publisher of computing, gaming and tech-business magazines including MacAddict and PC Gamer. Imagine Media spun off the radio business, while continuing its investment in it, last July. Imagine Radio is one of several Internet radio companies that offer original, Web-only programming. (Others include Spinner.com, Rolling Stone Radio, and NetRadio Network.) The category differs from aggregators, such as Broadcast.com, that stream various local radio stations over the Net so listeners in remote markets can hear them. The company is unique among its competitors in that it lets listeners use its music inventory to create their own stations. Listeners can select from types of music ("new rock," "electronica" or "classic soul," for example), and then indicate within those genres which songs and artists they want to program into the rotation. Furthermore, listeners can name their station and make it available to other visitors to the Imagine Radio site. MTV Online has been notoriously quiet in the Web music space, offering mostly music news and information, while other brands have made acquisitions and are experimenting with new technologies to take advantage of the medium.