Bebo says more than 450,000 bands are already using its site. Bebo claims more than 31 million users, making it the second-most popular social networking site after News Limited's market-leading MySpace service.

"Artists can be successful and break into the charts now with minimum outlay; they just need a reasonable audience," 7digital managing director Ben Drury said in a statement. "The partnership with Bebo brings the functionality of the 7digital platform to millions and gives artists mass exposure."

Social networking services such as Bebo and Myspace rely heavily on providing access to music in order to attract their audiences, so finding a way of monetising that enthusiasm is an obvious commercial strategy. In September last year, MySpace announced plans for unsigned bands to sell music via its site in a partnership with Snocap.

While the 7digital sales option will be available to all Bebo customers, online access through Orange may take a little longer. Read on to find out why.