The best kept secret of digital downloads is http://www.emusic.com. Emusic is a music subscription service - you pay a monthly fee and get a certain number of downloads each month. These downloads are yours to keep, they don't expire when the month ends or if you cancel your subscription. Nor are they copy protected, and if you ever delete them by mistake, you can re-download them for free.
Emusic now charges $10/month for 30 downloads, $15/month for 50 downloads, and $20/month for 75 downloads. If you figure that an album has at most 15 tracks, that means you get at least 5 albums per month for $20. It's tough to beat that pricing scheme - sounds too good to be true!
The only downside is that emusic only offers music from independent labels. Most of the major indie releases are offered on emusic, and there's an extensive jazz/classical section as well. Many of my favorite "undiscovered" artists come from albums I download on a whim at the end of the month to burn off my remaining tracks. I should say there's also a nice community forum to get album reviews and musical suggests from users with similar interests.
If you want to sign up for emusic, email me and I'll send you an offer for 50 free downloads just for signing up. (Disclaimer: I'll also get 50 free downloads for referring you. We can bargain over this if you'd like.)
There's no way I would have heard of half of the artists that I have, or own half of the music that I do, if not for emusic. I certainly spend more money on music than I would without the service, but it has also broadened my musical horizons significantly.
And for any new release not offered on emusic, I go to Newbury Comics (new releases are generally $10, and they usually have generous web coupons - and free pint glasses!), or itunes when I'm feeling especially lazy.
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