The service, which is due to launch early next year, will only be available to US users. Instead of swapping MP3s, it sounds like users will exchange files protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM).
Peer Impact is being launched by New York-based Wurld Media, which says its business model is patent pending.
"The on-line media market is presently split between authorised legal paid-download services and unauthorised free services; the consumer is stuck somewhere in the middle, and that's where Peer Impact comes in," said Wurld Media's CEO and Chairman Greg Kerber.
He continued: "From the beginning our objective has been to reach out to the consumer and help build a secure and legal file-sharing community, created by – and for – the fan, but which also ensures that digital-rights owners get compensated."