Jamendo: good, free music and artists well-paid
Some time ago I bumped into the http://www.jamendo.com website. In Jamendo you download only FREE music (under the Creative Common licenses), and musicians around the globe can get their work known by millions without the need for greedy record companies, and even get some money if their work is really good.
This is exactly what I imagine as a sustainable model for music when I say I favor piracy :) But how Jamendo works? The artists are able to get revenue in two ways:
Advertising: Jamendo.com pays its costs through non-visually-aggressive advertising. As the artists are the secret of the site’s success, Jamendo gives them 50% of all gross advertising revenue. The amount is shared among the artists according to their popularity.
Direct and easy donations: Any fan can make a donation directly to his beloved musician through PayPal. The minimum amount is 5€
If you’re a Linux user, there’s even more good news: The popular players Amarok 2 (KDE) and Rhythmbox (GNOME) have native support for Jamendo. In Rhythmbox you can just select “Jamendo” in the left sidebar and listen the thousands of available albums (this was how I first met Jamendo).
Here is a recommendation for your ears: Pornophonique - 8-bit lagerfeuer :)