• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 17, 2007

MySpace has signed a new licensing agreement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment to host the label's various offerings. The deal marks MySpace's first partnership with a major record label.

The companies expect to share sponsorship and ad revenues generated by the hosted music videos and other content provided by Sony. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

"MySpace has always served as a powerful promotional platform for music," Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace, said upon the announcement. DeWolfe described the deal as the "next generation of MySpace music services."

Under the terms of the deal, Sony will license music videos, select audio material and other content from its artist roster, and will make the content available on its artists' MySpace profile pages.

MySpace is also expected to help promote Sony's artists throughout the site.

"We continue to develop new approaches to doing business online," said Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business and U.S. sales at Sony BMG. "This new effort is a great way to build new audiences for our artists."

Some Sony BMG artists with MySpace pages include Good Charlotte, Franz Ferdinand, Clipse, Tenacious D, Ray LaMontagne, and Slayer.