WebProNews

Sony BMG has inked a deal with online social media network Imeem to make its music available on the ad-supported music service.

Sony follows in the footsteps of the Warner Music Group who signed a deal with Imeem in July after suing the company for copyright violation. EMI is also in talks with Imeem according to the Silicon Alley Insider.

When the start-up launched in June none of the major record labels were interested in making licensing deals with the service but because of declining music sales the labels are more willing to explore new distribution avenues. In exchange for making their content available to Imeem users, Warner and independent labels receive a portion of the ad revenue that the site generates.

Imeem also has licensing agreements with independent labels including, Nettwerk, Beggars Group, Matador Records, XL Recordings and other labels distributed by independent distributor companies IODA, The Orchard and Redeye Distribution.

Registered users of Imeem can post songs or videos on their accounts and share them with others. Users can stream full songs or videos from a recoding artist's label as long as Imeem has a content deal with the label. If there is no deal in place users can access a 30 second clip of a song or video.