Record labels, seeking new ways to deal with ebbing CD sales, are looking to social network sites to spur music sales. The model is very different from iTunes and also has some growing pains, according to Reuters on Sunday.

With iTunes, the user goes to a dedicated site, browses for music, pays, and downloads. However, a social networking sites offer a more real-time, fluid environment in which to reach customers where they live. Indie musicians can stream music from their own pages with a "buy" button next to each track. Visitors could, in turn, place that button on their own page.

One of the leaders is Snocap. Their MyStore service on MySpace allows artists to sell their music from their MySpace pages and also allows fans to virtually copy the store to their own Blogs. Warner Music and EMI are jumping in on this technique, which, in contrast to iTunes, allows them to reach the customer directly.

"It just completely decentralizes it," EMI head of digital Barney Wragg said. "Obviously you can place a ’buy’ button (on) iTunes and any other retailer. But this is a real easy way for us to do something specifically for that artist."

However, Warner Music Group (WMG) has made the mistake of sticking to Microsoft’s WMA technology which others see as a mistake. "Your sales will follow where your content can be played," Snocap’s CEO Rusty Rueff pointed out. "If it plays on an iPod, it’s got a better chance of selling. And the only way to do that is with MP3s."

Other sites are also jumping on this bandwagon, such as Last.fm and Imeem. "Social networks are the (peer-to-peer) networks of the future. They’re this generation’s MTV. If you want to be at a point of sale at the highest point of desire and consumption, be where the fan is," Mr. Reuff advised.