Times have been tough for music labels recently; something they've liked to attribute to internet piracy. The RIAA's ongoing commitment to prosecution of random people hasn't exactly helped the situation either. The major labels are starting to change their thinking lately, however, in the face of dropping profits.

Universal has finally jumped on the bandwagon of streaming media by signing a deal with popular social playlist site imeem. Universal is actually the last of the big four, Warner Music Group, EMI Music, Sony BMG, and itself, to jump into imeem's services.

imeem describes itself as "an online community where artists, fans & friends can promote their
content, share their tastes, and discover new blogs, photos, music and video." imeem users can upload their own original content or browse and add catalog content. Users can also embed original content hosted by imeem in other websites like blogs and other social networking sites. The catalog now includes all of Universal's music and video holdings.

Part of the appeal of imeem is that users can rate playlists, videos, music and user content, as well as tag them and recommend them to other like-minded users. This interactivity is what sets imeem apart from being just another simple streaming media host. All the content on imeem is free to view or listen to and that obviously helps make the site popular. imeem boasts that it currently sees 19 million unique visitors daily with an additional 50,000 signing up for the service each day.

Major labels don't just give their catalogs away out of the goodness of their heart, unfortunately. imeem is said to have paid cash up front as well as given Universal stock in the website. Though users can stream the media freely, imeem is still funded by advertisements. Revenue from these ads is shared among the labels it has contracted with. The website will not sell hosted content, but will have links for users that are interested in purchasing tracks they may have heard through the service.

imeem is not new and has been around since 2004. The website originally hosted instant messaging and file-sharing software, but has since evolved into a popular social media site with which even major labels are willing to barter. In October of 2007, comScore named imeem the fastest growing social networking site. As the site acquires more media, it should be expected to continue growing in popularity and may well become one of the premier social networks available to internet-goers.