Craig David's tunes will also feature on the service

In the Microsoft deal, users will get access to the catalogues of record companies including BMG, EMI, Warner and hundreds of independent labels, who have struck partnerships with OD2.

It is one of the biggest deals between UK sites in the paid-for music download industry, which is still relatively new with an uncertain future.

It is not yet known how many music fans will be willing to pay for music downloaded over the internet after the success of underground, free services like Napster.

OD2 expect one in three music purchases to be made online by 2006.

On MSN, fans will be able to choose between buying individual tracks, buying a subscription to access a certain number of songs per month, or signing up to receive a pre-selected playlist of tunes based on the user's favourite type of music.

US ventures

MSN is the most popular site in the UK, according to analysts, with 14 million visitors per month.

The deal, announced at the Midem music conference in France, comes several weeks after launches by major download ventures MusicNet and Pressplay.

Pressplay is also available through Microsoft's MSN - but only in the United States.

In February, OD2 will also launch a service allowing users of mobile phone network Orange France to download songs through their Wap phones.