Magnatune Rocks

I read about Magnatune in the most recent issue of Gramophone magazine.
Why Magnatune is better than iTunes

• They provide downloads of music for which you pay a "suggested fee", 50% of which goes directly back to the artist. The "suggested fee" defaults to $8, which I gladly paid. After using the service, I may even pay more the next time.
• For those of us who demand hi fidelity, iTunes doesn't really cut it. Although iTunes offers a wide selection, it allows little in terms of fidelity (at 128k AAC - about the quality of an 8-track). Magnatune, however, offers you a variety of different bitrates, including .wav from which you can burn a perfect CD, or rip files into high quality AAC or mp3 files.
• Magnagune encourages you to pass on the music you downloaded to three other people and don't include any onerous DRM restrictions on the downloads.
• You can stream the whole album before you buy it, and not just 30 seconds like on iTunes
• Although they don't offer a ton of music yet, they have a fantastic early music collection.

The site has a link to an article from USA Today on their service, and owner John Buckman has his own blog.