[2] He made a number of sweeping changes to the playlist, selling a sister station and changing the name back to Jazz FM,[3] as well as starting up a record label and spin-off business deals and opportunities which helped Jazz FM swing into the black and make a profit in 2001.

[4] In July 2002, after a relaxation in ownership rules from the publication of the Communications Bill, the Guardian Media Group's (GMG) radio division was able to purchase the station for £44.5 million.

GMG made more changes to the playlist, shifting to more R&B, soul, easy listening and adult contemporary music during the daytime.

[8] In 1980, Lee wrote the following to the Independent Broadcasting Authority: "Dear Sir, I hereby apply for a licence to open a jazz radio station in London.

[11] As Jazz FM the station launched on 4 March 1990 with an Ella Fitzgerald concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

[19][25] Wheatly sold Viva AM which was losing £100,000 a month before the sale[24] for £3 million to Mohamed Al-Fayed as part of his cost-cutting plans.

[23] Golden Rose Communications opened a jazz themed restaurant, Cafe Jazbar in Liverpool in April 1997.

There were plans for jazz retail outlets named "Jazshops" to sell CDs and merchandise.

[30] In December 1997, Golden Rose Communications planned to make a bid for Melody 105.4 FM[31] which failed.

The bid was backed by the Guardian Media Group (GMG) and Clear Channel International.

[42] If the bid had succeeded, the station would have combined London News Radio's operations with its own to save money.

[50] Plans for a Jazz FM TV channel to start in the middle of 2004 were reported by websites[51][52] from 2003.

Chief Executive John Myers said, "As sorry as we are to say goodbye to Jazz FM, it's a sad fact of life that it has never made a profit in its 15 years of existence."

Jazz FM also announced in 2001 that it had made full year profits before tax of £134,000 to 30 June 2001.

In 1994, alongside the change of name to JFM, the core playlist was changed under agreement with the Radio Authority to give a more mainstream sound of soul, jazz fusion, and blues music, with a requirement that only 25% of music played on the station had to be jazz.

[66] Chief Executive Officer Richard Wheatly noted the station format was in trouble because of its serious straight jazz playlist.

This was especially true after GMG Radio took over the running of the station and in November 2004 after an agreement with Ofcom, when jazz was dropped from the daytime playlists.

[72] In a 2006 article for theJazz, musician Digby Fairweather said Jazz FM had turned into a "tragic and swift disaster story" and that the change of playlist was "responsible for both the attempted rape and (fortunately abortive) re-definition of the music" to which no-one within the Jazz FM coverage area would forgive.

[73] In March 2003 the Radio Authority (embodied into Ofcom, the UK government's communications regulator) investigated Jazz FM after it received two complaints from listeners that the station was playing more pop music after changes to the playlist in January 2003.

[74] Musicians played on Jazz FM which were alleged to have infringed its licence included U2, Eric Clapton, and Van Morrison.

The most well known was the "Listen in Colour" (featuring the Jazz FM chameleon) strapline, poster advertising campaign and CD in January 1997.

[80] Later in 2002 a poster campaign by WARL was started with the chameleon peering through a misted window with the tagline "Come into the Cool".

[81] Other slogans include "The Rhythm of the City" and afterwards, during the GMG era, "Get It On" created by Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw,[82] though on-air it was swiftly replaced by "Smooth Jazz and Classic Soul".

The £5 million relaunch with Manning Gottlieb over three years from 2003 brought an end to the Jazz FM chameleon[83] because extensive research carried out by GMG Radio found that few people could associate and recall the chameleon with Jazz FM.

Jazz FM was available on DAB digital radio on MXR multiplexes in England, South Wales, and Central Scotland (excluding MXR North West, which hosted the defunct 100.4 Jazz FM service for the North West) and the Switch Digital multiplex covering Greater London.

[89] Jazz FM, like its counterpart GMG radio stations, held 'Bring a Pound to Work Day' in late October/early November 2003/2004.

Hed Kandi also started the record labels Stereo Sushi & The Acid Lounge and had with Stonebridge.