MusicNet provides the technology for branded online music download services and is behind services for firms including America Online and Virgin, which is launching a service later this year.
MusicNet has partnerships with hundreds of record labels, giving it a huge catalogue of music to offer to downloaders.
MTV has not formally unveiled plans for its service at this point, but when it does it will be up against established players in the market, such as Apple's iTunes.
Apple said last week that 3.3m songs had been downloaded since it launched the latest version of the a week previous. Other players up and running in the competitive market include Napster, Coca-Cola and US retailing giant Wal-Mart.
News that Viacom-owned MTV is to enter the market followed that of Sony, which announced its service last week.
Sony, the world's second-biggest consumer electronics maker, launched its Sony Connect with a library of 500,000 tracks. Songs from artists such as rock singer Sheryl Crow cost 99 cents, while albums cost as little as $9.99.
According to reports, MTV has not yet decided on a pricing structure for the service. Some charge by the track, while other companies offer unlimited downloads for a monthly subscription fee.
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