Clear Channel's online radio platform, iHeart Radio, which had generated some initial controversy by forcing users to log in through Facebook to access certain content, is now allowing listeners to create their own account and log in to the site directly.

While a log in was never required to listen to the over-the-air stations that iHeart Radio aggregates (from Clear Channel as well as Univision, EMF, and soon, Cumulus), logging in through Facebook was, initially, the only way to access iHeart's Pandora-like user-created stations, or even to bookmark favorite stations.

The iHeart Radio/Facebook alliance was one of several with music services announced last fall that triggered privacy concerns. At that time, a Clear Channel spokesperson told Radio-Info.com that plans were underway to allow an alternate sign-on. The “Radio and the Internet” Board of Radio-Info.com is talking about the log-in change.