Plan B for News Corp.

If it can't catch up to Facebook as a social network, News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS  ) MySpace may as well be the leader in social music.

Several news sources, starting with tech blog TechCrunch, are reporting that News Corp. is closing in on the purchase of imeem, the music-discovery site with a viral community bent. The acquisition would fit right in with MySpace's summertime purchase of iLike.

imeem would be the latest social-music site to be gobbled up by a media giant. CBS (NYSE: CBS  ) bought last.fm two years ago. Isn't it just a matter of time before Pandora is wooed by a conglomerate looking to score some serious style points?

It would be great to report that imeem had to beat its way through a mob of suitors, but that doesn't appear to be the case. GigaOm's Om Malik is describing this move as "essentially a fire sale." The combination of higher royalty fees and last month's Orchard (Nasdaq: ORCD  ) lawsuit are weighing heavily on imeem's sustainability.

There may have been a glimmer of hope when imeem became a key component of Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG  ) OneBox music-search feature last month, but reality was crashing down on imeem. It clearly wasn't a good sign when Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG  ) wrote off its investment in the startup six months ago.

This doesn't mean that MySpace's potential purchase qualifies as charity work. One of the few things it has on Facebook these days is the popularity of MySpace Music. Signed and unsigned bands lean on the site to promote their tunes and albums. MySpace has even launched compilations of its site's artists. Facebook offers musical artists ways to reach out to their fans, but it's just not the musical hotbed that MySpace has become.

Until Facebook acquires Pandora -- and there's a thought -- MySpace may as well excel at the one thing it's doing right.