To DL or Not to DL

The newest interest in my life is a cute little iPod Shuffle, a second generation version that is smaller than a poppy. (I marvelled when I clipped it on my coat on Rembrance Day how my poppy was bigger than it was!) Although I already have an MP3 player, I never quite got into the habit of using it. Poddi, as I have affectionately named him, goes with me everywhere and keeps me company all day at work.

So now that I'm reintroducing MP3's and electronically-formatted music into my life, I'm struggling with the idea of downloading illegal tunes. It's not that I'm a righteous and moral person (I'm not)... it has more to do with my lack of knowledge and lack of trust of web music sources. In fact, I'm one of the few people I know who still (gasp) buys CDs. I even went out on Sept. 25, the day of JT's albulm release to get his FutureSex/Love Songs right away.

And now that I'm attempting to crossover into the group that downloads music, I surf legitimate sources like iTunes and am very willing to pay the quoted 99 cents for new music that I know I'll enjoy after several repeats. I figure the quality is better, the source is reliable, and it's very compatible with my little Poddi. I'm scared of polluting my computer with buggy files and software (it's somewhat a finicky computer after all, and hates anything new and foreign).

Any advice on cheap or legit music sources??