November 18, 2009

By By Antony Bruno, Denver

MySpace has reportedly signed an agreement to acquire ad-supported on-demand music service imeem.

According to reports at TechCrunch and PaidContent, a letter of intent has been signed. The TechCrunch report lists the price at $1 million in cash, while PaidContent says the value of the deal is far higher.

Many details remain up in the air, including exactly which imeem staffers will transfer to MySpace as part of the deal, and exactly how MySpace will handle the service once the transaction is complete.

Sources have told Billboard that imeem will at least in the short term continue to operate as a separate service, much like another MySpace acquisition -- iLike does today. Other sources say the imeem customer base, catalog and advertisers will eventually make it to the MySpace Music site, but no timing for that plan was discussed.

One potential wrench in the works is that other companies may try to now bid on imeem with leaks of the firesale price now public. The company raised upwards of $75 million in funding from various venture capital firms, as well as a $16 million investment from Warner Music Group.

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