MySpace will acquire the popular music discovery service iLike that allows users listen to and share music across social networks.

MySpace将会开放流行音乐探索服务iLike，此服务可使用户收听、分享社交网络里的音乐。

MySpace is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation

iLike reportedly turned down an offer from rival Facebook, where it is the top music application.

The company has 55 million registered users and has been prominent（杰出的，显著的） on most social networks apart from MySpace.

"The iLike acquisition advances our relentless¹（无情的，冷酷的） pursuit of innovation," said MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta.

"Music entertainment is an important piece of people's lives," he told reporters in a conference call.

In a statement, iLike president Hadi Partovi said: "I'm enthusiastic about what this combination will mean for our users, artists, advertisers（广告客户）, and our staff.

"We are beginning an exciting new journey together."

The terms of the deal were not disclosed but the blogosphere has reported that iLike was sold "fairly cheaply" at about $20m (£12.4m).

MySpace has been working to overhaul² its business into one more focused on global music and entertainment.

Mr Van Natta said he wants iLike to branch out from music recommendation into other areas like video, games and film.

Rivalry³

It is not known how this acquisition（获得，所获之物） will ultimately affect iLike's relationship with Facebook, which has been home to much of iLike's activity. It has been estimated that 80% of its traffic comes from Facebook.

"Now that it will be owned by Facebook's closest rival, there's a chance that Facebook could restrict or block the app," said CNet's Caroline McCarthy.

Mr Van Natta for his part told reporters: "In the short term users should expect the iLike experience to be unaffected.

"Our expectation is that social networks are going to be thrilled that we're making iLike an even richer experience."

In a statement to the BBC Facebook said: "iLike was one of the first applications to be built on Facebook Platform and has become a success with more than 10 million users.

"We expect that users will continue to discover and share music through the iLike application on Facebook."

The deal was not unexpected and had been heavily trailed by blogs like TechCrunch.

"iLike ultimately chose MySpace based partly on price, and partly on a fit with the buyer," said Mike Arrington founder⁴ of TechCrunch.com.

"Ongoing⁵ uncertainty⁶ over Facebook's intentions to compete with them (iLike) directly as well as regular changes to the rules around Facebook Platform mean they could get cut off at any time," warned Mr Arrington.