A new music streaming service is being created by Microsoft, with plans in place for it to be launched at the end of this month.

It will be promoted through the MSN portal and is expected to offer downloads as well as free streaming.

Executive producer of MSN Peter Bale told the Telegraph that the structure of the service has not yet been confirmed, but it could be similar to Spotify.

Users of that service are able to stream music for free, but must listen to approximately one minute of advertising every 30 minutes. They can also pay £9.99 per month to opt out of the advertising.

And although Microsoft's version is expected to be comparable, Mr Bale was quoted as saying: "We are looking at how other similar businesses have structured their business models and trying to figure out what will work best for both consumer and Microsoft."

A new online advertising system - dubbed Adollo - was launched earlier this week, with the aim of mimicking the offline marketing process.

The creators of the solution explained that a network will be created that allows advertisers to see where their ads will be placed.