KEY POINTS:
Bebo has signed an exclusive partnership with the UK technology company 7Digital that enables musicians to sell their music directly to the social networking website's 31 million global users.
Bebo already has around 450,000 bands using its "Bebo Bands" service. The partnership with 7Digital will enable
those artists to sell directly to Bebo users on the site. Sales would also count toward official charts in the UK, the US and 20 other countries.
The social networking site has 8 million users in the UK and adds five new users a second around the world.
7Digital is behind "indiestore" - an online do-it-yourself download site that has already attracted 5,000 artists. It will be integrated into Bebo Bands, providing indiestore artists with wider exposure and Bebo Bands users with a method to sell music directly to fans.
A number of bands, most famously the Arctic Monkeys, have had massive success promoting music via the internet. A crop of new artists, including Enter Shikari, have also reached the higher echelons of the UK charts without the assistance of a record label by harnessing the power of online music stores.
High-profile acts including The Killers and Muse have already adopted the 7Digital "widget" that enables users to download music and share it with other Bebo users.
7Digital's digital media system is used by a variety of record labels including music majors EMI and Warner Music as well as a host of independent labels and thousands of individual artists.
The London-based 7Digital is backed by Benchmark Capital, the venture capital company that invested in the online auction site eBay.
The partnership will see Bebo battle against the rival social networking site MySpace, which has built up a large subscriber base by focusing on promoting musicians.
Ben Drury, 7Digital's managing director, said: "Artists can be successful and break into the charts with minimum outlay; they just need a reasonable audience.
The partnership with Bebo brings the functionality of the 7Digital platform to millions and gives artists mass exposure - it's great news for all."Joanna Shields, the president of Bebo International, said: "We're adding more than 3,000 new bands and artists each day and affording individuals a voice to express themselves and share their music and passions with like-minded people."
She said Bebo users will now be able to discover music on the site and then purchase it with ease.
Artists will be able to sell music in multiple currencies using PayPal, the e-commerce site owned by eBay, or Click&Buy. It will also let artists sell music via mobile-phone text message platforms, meaning fans who do not have credit cards can purchase songs.
- INDEPENDENT