Online Music Shopping Recommendations Needed

[PTNL]

I'm looking to sign-up with an online music pay-as-you-go download service, and I need some suggestions as to what service to use. What has been difficult to sift through is the marketing propaganda from online music sites to get the core details of the service.

My goal is to stay completely legal with music downloads, while maintaining an open format of the file to allow fair-use. My preferences:

1 - The download be in such a format, so that can be played in something other than just the service's client application (Winamp is the preferred player used on my machine).
2 - Pure pay-as-you-go would be ideal, though I'm not against spending a little more to get Internet radio features.

Please do not make any suggestions for P2P apps. I also know about the "allofmp3.com" site, and the legal/ethical greyness does not interest me.

I'm completely aware about what can be done with app's like Nero, CDEX, etc, and the concepts of getting around some DRM implementations with "record what I hear" applications. Unfortunately, none of these methods provide quick solutions that do not require the use of a CD-R/RW and/or a significant amount of time editing/capturing/re-encoding each song.

TIA to everyone that can contribute their knowledge and personal experience to this thread!

 

[PTNL]

(after work bump)

 

[upriverpaddler]

Aren you at all interested in portable mp3 player listening? If you are, decide what mp3 player you would like to use. This will probably narrow your choices of services.

itunes seems to be the best download service with the best selection, but you will have to have an ipod or a computer with itunes to listen to your songs.

 

[discochan]

I think yahoo music is supposed to be good

 

[PTNL]

Aren you at all interested in portable mp3 player listening? If you are, decide what mp3 player you would like to use. This will probably narrow your choices of services.

itunes seems to be the best download service with the best selection, but you will have to have an ipod or a computer with itunes to listen to your songs.

mp3 player support is not so much a factor. additionally, itunes can understand the mp3 format, plus many other formats. most other mp3 players' software interface will at least understand mp3, wav, wma, etc.
for me, the mp3 player that i choose is totally independent because of my criteria that the music i download be at least in an open format, or at least playable in other media players (ie: winamp)

I think yahoo music is supposed to be good

have you ever used the downloadable music from yahoo, or seen it in use? if so, what format are the files in? could they only be played in the yahoo player?