MySpace Music to launch in days: sources

Morris and other executives also toughened their stance with Apple's iTunes, with some of the majors refusing to sign long-term deals with the digital music retailer, now the second-largest retailer of music in the United States.

MySpace has lacked a revenue stream for the major music companies to make money before now, though it had started making moves to rectify that.

Last October, Sony BMG, the second-largest music company, reached a licensing agreement with MySpace to stream music videos of its artists including Britney Spears and Beyonce.

As part of the deal, MySpace shares advertising revenue with Sony BMG, which is jointly owned by Sony Corp (6758.T). and Bertelsmann AG BERT.UL.

(Additional reporting by Kenneth Li; Editing by Braden Reddall)