MySpace parent company News Corp. has announced the long-anticipated MySpace Music, an online music portal/store which will not only sell digital music, but also concert tickets and merchandise. Talks about a joint venture between MySpace and Sony BMG, Warner Music circulated last week, as part of a project that is said to rival Apple’s iTunes online store.

Now News Corp. has announced that three heavyweight labels, Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner Music, have stakes in the new venture. The last of the Big Four, EMI, just got a new president of its digital music business in the person of Douglas Merrill, former Google executive. EMI has not reached a deal yet for MySpace Music.

This is a huge deal for MySpace, considering their joint venture would bring the first three largest music companies as business partners, possibly four, if EMI agrees to join the deal. Still a long way to go, but a MySpace music store could create quite a competition to Apple’s iTunes, which was recently declared the number 2 music retailer in the United States in 2007 after Wal-Mart, as NPD Group’s MusicWatch survey showed.

"MySpace is already one of the largest music communities on the Internet," Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business at Sony BMG Music Entertainment, said in an interview with CNET News. "We're aligning our efforts to reach fans through every conceivable platform," he said.

MySpace did not disclose financial details of its new venture, which will generate revenue through music download sales, advertising and sales of concert tickets, merchandise and ringtones, News Corp. has announced.

In the past years, MySpace has ventured into the online music world by signing a partnership with Snocap, a company founded by the former Napster developer Shawn Fanning. The partnership was announced in September 2006 and  Snocap has become the provider of digital music retail tools for MySpace, marking the first music e-commerce deal for both companies.

The Snocap services enabled artists and labels with registered content to set pricing, create stores, and sell their music in MP3 format.