PUBLIC MARKS with tags mp3 & "mp3 download stores"

Stream or download music in MP3 format (no DRM) without charge before choosing whether to buy or not. (The MP3s available for free download have a small spoken word tag that mentions Magnatune appended to them.) [Wikipedia]

"Similar to RateYourMusic, except Discogs caters more towards DJs, with an incredible database of music, especially club and other electronic music. I've got an account there, under the same name." [SwimTwoBirds]

40 albums for 20 bucks.

"People's Music Store is a newly launched DIY online music store. It was created by the founder of MP3 reseller Bleep.com, Ged Day. People's Music Store styles itself as "the first music store entirely powered by music fans." Basically the service allows you to set up your own custom-designed record store, with music chosen from a catalogue of indie record labels (so far no major record label music). The idea is that you earn points, equivalent to 10% of the price of the single, EP or album that you sell. These points can only be used to buy other music items on the People's Music Store site. There are more than 650 stores currently, with over 250,000 songs in the catalogue - most appear to be available at $0.99 per song or $8.99 per album. The site claims to be "working with" 4,500 labels, including 4AD, XL, Rough Trade, Matador, Dominio, and Ged Day's own Warp. Other than the lack of major label music, there is another minor annoyance for those of us who don't live in the U.S. - international users will frequently run into a "we're sorry, but this release is not available in your country" message. However on the plus side, all the music available for download is DRM-free and at high quality 320Kbps." [reawriteweb]

Prices for music CD's (new or used, with short previews and reviews), MP3 downloads, and DVD's at Amazon and other stores.

Digital Music Store offering legal MP3s specializing in electronic, experimental, and underground music, in high-quality 320kbps mp3 format. Listen to 60-second song previews.

AIFF tracks for $1.49. "We are an online music store offering high-definition digital music downloads from the world's leading independent labels. We offer thousands of titles across a multitude of musical genres as well as in-depth information about the artists and albums. When you purchase a complete album from HDtracks you will receive a PDF file containing the cover art and liner notes. We offer CD-quality music in your choice of three formats -- AIFF, FLAC, and 320 kbps MP3. Plus, our downloads are always DRM-free, so they can be played everywhere, including home music servers and MP3 players (including iPods). Our Download Manager works on both PCs and Macs. It launches automatically so you can start downloading your music without a cumbersome installation process. At the moment HDtracks is only available in the U.S." Compatibility: AIFF - (CD Quality) Compatible with iTunes, iPods, Winamp FLAC - (CD Quality) Compatible with Media Monkey, VLC, Songbird, Mac Flac, Toast 320kbps MP3 - High quality MP3 audio with smaller file sizes ideal for all portable media players.

"Go to Napster Free for online music--over 3 million full-length songs you can listen to for free, in streaming audio over the Internet. New music, playlists, recommendations, and more."

"The February issue of Wired Magazine (w/ Sarah Silverman on the cover) printed a really cool Anthology feature titled: Vinyl Frontier: Left-for-Dead Music Is Resurrected for the Digital Age." [Anthology Recordings]

"Amazon encodes some tracks at 256 Kbps and others at a variable bit rate that averages about the same. Audio purists will point to the better fidelity from AAC and WMA files encoded at the same bit rate, but those same purists are probably more likely to buy CDs and rip lossless tracks anyway. To my ears, the Amazon MP3 downloads sounded splendid, with crisp highs, full lows, and not a trace of distortion." [pcmag.com] Cost is $0.89-0.99 per song; $5.99-9.99 per album

A subscription-free alternative to eMusic. "PayPlay.FM, offers 1.4 million tracks from indie artists, all of them available in either MP3 or WMA format...The store is unique in that it sells tracks in both unprotected MP3 and DRM-encrypted WMA formats. Why bother with the latter? For starters, you'll pay a bit less: 77 cents per WMA track versus 88 cents for MP3s (192 Kbps). [pcmag.com] Read the full review: http://tinyurl.com/yq3cub Has a playlist match for Last.fm subscribers.

Lala lets you stream some full albums as well as upload your music allowing you to access it anytime you have an internet connection. You can also sync your music to an iPod.

320 kbps mp3's. "The bleep player lets you preview complete tracks in full quality -- it fades out every 30 seconds but you can click the play button again to hear the rest of the song or seek to a position of your choice."