New York-based SpiralFrog, which plans to launch its service later this year, said Universal, the world's largest music publisher, agreed to make its library available for the service to US and Canadian customers.

The move has the potential to shake up the online music sector, dominated by Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store, whose marketing of 99-cent song downloads has become a model used by rivals.

SpiralFrog chief executive Robin Kent, a former advertising executive, said the service will offer an alternative to the pay-per-song model as well as the widely used practice of illicit file-swapping.

"Offering young consumers an easy-to-use alternative to pirated music sites will be compelling," said Kent.

"SpiralFrog will offer those consumers a better experience and environment than they can get from any pirate site."

Kent said the website will offer high-quality legal downloads with protection against viruses and spyware. It will have built-in digital rights management technology to prevent illegal copies of the downloaded songs.

"We want to provide the best environment for everyone -- our partners and the recording artists, as well as consumers," Kent said.

"Piracy continues to be one of the biggest issues facing the music industry where illegal file sharing and unauthorized CD burning are the prime means of music piracy. Digital rights protection will help us combat piracy and provide peace of mind for the record labels and the artists," Kent said.

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