James Blunt’s new album will be promoted on the social networking site MySpace in a bid to capitalise on net surfing music lovers.

Warner Music is allowing browsers to listen to the British singer’s new offering All the Lost Souls on his MySpace webpage. Those suitably impressed can then pay $9.99, buying a download and CD of the album.

The initiative is seen as a new way of challenging the iTunes digital media store, which overshadows traditional CD sales. The industry as a whole is in rapid decline due to consumers turning to online downloads and increasing piracy.

The singer already has 250,000 friends registered to his MySpace site.

Separately, Warner’s chief executive Edgar Bronfman spoke about the decline in CD sales at an industry event.

He said the future of the company remains ‘bright’, as new ways to sell music are devised.

“Our business is poised to rebound because the demand for music is as strong as it’s ever been and our determination to meet that demand has never been greater.”