The launch of the site, Ditto.net, is the first in a series of planned music-themed extensions to Bauer's portfolio.
Ditto.net is about to go into beta testing, with a launch planned for late April or early May, and is reportedly proving a "huge success" with its 50,000 alpha test users.
Its working name was Project Loudmouth and it has been in production for more than a year.
Billed as an "entertainment matchmaker", the site introduces people who share the same tastes and preferences. Users will share feedback and opinion on films and music, as well as books, games and TV shows, and will be able to start their own discussion topics, as well as joining others.
Discussion forums allow users to recommend favourite films, albums or novels, share opinions about their least favourite and ask questions of other like-minded members.
The site will offer basic recommendations based on the user's age and gender, with specific searches on film themes and music releases.
Bruce Daisley, digital sales director at Bauer, said the site would draw on Emap's heritage of producing leading music and film magazines, such as Empire, Q and Mojo.
"The teams who brought us Empire and Q are behind Ditto," he added. "In print, we have 65% of the music market and have some really strong, trusted brands such as Q, Mojo and Kerrang!, so this is a very smart way to try and get a stronger position in music online."
Headed by former Empire editor, Colin Kennedy, the site will launch with a "handful of advertisers" in order to ensure what is deemed to be a quality offering.
Daisley said: "We want to get the advertising right and do something special for clients, so initially the site will have two or three advertisers.There's definitely a chance you lose some value by having too much, so in the first six months we'll only feature five or six advertising partners."
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