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I haven't used one of the "illegal" systems either, but it doesn't make much difference in my mind. I consider it pretty much the same thing: Once an artist performs it, the song belongs to the world.

on't own a computer

I listen to streaming radio, but it ain't for the record, just for tunes while surfin'.

I have never even thought about it. I am old-fashioned and like to own the original work in a form I can hold in my hand.

I've downloaded several live Phish shows this year. They were the first to get it right.

I've used both iTunes and Rhapsody, (iMac at home, and Windows at work) and they're both great for different reasons. The iTunes sound quality is great, and the convenience and pricing are great. Forget the 99¢ per song, and focus on the $9.99 per album. Selection is even decent (but with lots of room for improvement) Rhapsody allows for streaming, and I find myself trying out new music, as well as listening to lots of albums that I love but only own on vinyl, so I can't exactly listen to them at work. Also, their radio service is top notch. Try both, have fun!

I buy the cd's and then use them to make legal PCM copies of material I want on my own cd-r's for the car or wherever I desire.

Pay to hear mp3's...?!

Does Internet radio count? It's just music downloaded in a non-storable format.

Trying to download "music" is like trying to buy "love" from a hooker.

I listen to music on my stereo. That's enough.

Why bother downloading legally or illegaly, when the library has over 20,000 CDs?

No, No, No! If I'm going to pay for music, then I want a hard-copy, pressed at a plant, with all the packaging. Not something dribbled over phone lines to my computer. Never!

This is still Stereophile, not Stereo Review number 2.

Don't trust it. The sound quality is lozy.

While I enjoy many of the blessings of the computer age, my methods for locating music and building my collection are partly fueled by the thrill of the hunt. In the end the sound bytes offered and cross-references proffered by computers to market music put my tastes in the hands of others. I still prefer the physical and mental challenge of finding, thinking, securing, and acquiring, and then lugging home—perhaps even on a hot day—in the form of heavy and unwieldy LPs.

I perfer buying music in stores.I'm not a fan of downloading music.

I use and support Computers for a living. I listen to my audio system for entertainment. I don't plan to mix the two.

I'm not going to pay for an online music service when the sound quality of most mp3's is awful.

With CD's so cheap at the online auction sites or through a club I would rather buy them.

I listen to music through a dedicated two-channel system, with no computers involved. I have no use for downloading bit-reduced or error-prone music files.

I haven't lost my hearing yet!

Frankly, I don't see online music services staying viable moneymakers. Usage will bottom out, after the shine wears off.

I wouldn't bother to download compressed, low quality music. I'm in to high fidelity and, more specifically, analog.

I have been using emusic.com for about a year. It is far from perfect and they have done things recently to try and improve matters (moving to VBR) however they have also done things to make things much worse (limiting simulataneous downloads). Overall, I am less than impressed. Just more evidence that online music delivery has a very long way to go.

I'm not really interested in downloading music at this time—whether legally or illegally. I prefer to purchase CDs and occasionally rip one to my computer to enjoy while working. I don't trust the music industry to grant me a perpetual license to listen to downloaded music any more than they trust me to not steal music.

I have no interest in downloading music, legally or illegally.

When artists give away—or even sell—stuff on their own websites, I buy: Rickie Lee Jones and David Baerwald, for instance. But MP3 isn't really it, is it? If I sit down to listen, I'm likely to pull out vinyl or "pre-rolled CD" than anything that's been compressed.

Don't trust the sound

I would have if they'd accept my credit card. But only American cards work—so far. I'm in Iceland.