MySpace rolled out today its new online music store, called MySpace Music, which enables users to listen to free music but demands a fee for downloading the tracks.

The service is supported by the major four music labels Sony BMG, Universal, Warner, EMI and also the independent music group The Orchard. At this point there are only a few thousand tracks available but the company explained that once it will gain access to its partners’ archives, the lists will be completed with millions of other tunes. Aside from the revenue recorded through the tracks’ sale, the record companies will also get a share of the money generated by advertising and other sources.

The news about this service first emerged around April 2007 but the difficult negotiations with EMI caused a significant delay for the initial development schedule.

MySpace is looking to win some of iTunes’ market share, service which at this point is by far the market’s leader with about 80 percent of the total music downloads, as the company claims.

So far, the service has four sponsors, starting with McDonald’s Corp., Sony Pictures, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. and Toyota Motor Corp..

MySpace hopes that its more than 120 million users will be opened to the initiative and will embrace the new service, rather than sticking with whatever program they normally use. Considering the fact that soon enough the track lists will contain a very large and diverse selection, making it easy for users to find any sort of music, the service might have the potential to make a name for itself and be one of the preferred sources of online music.