And there Anahata you've got my thoughts in focus.
I much prefer buying from the artist either at a gig, or from their owm website,as often as I can.
It seems to me that downloading tracks is a little soulless to me, and as people have said, how do you know if people aren't ripping you off?
If you have a decent soundcard with a Line Out Jack, or even a Headphone socket. You can record whole swathes of music on an Edirol or Zoom, and then transfer to your iPod...
Cottage Industry? Attic Industry in my case!!