So currently I'm a great fan of mp3 blogs. These are blogs which provide regular postings of new songs, which remain, usually, downloadable for a couple of weeks, and then removed. The blogs I've read seem to offer a nice compromise between the hardline record label position on one hand, and the free-for-all pirates on the other.

Mp3blogs, at least those I read, seem to concentrate on new music, and post one or two songs by the artist, not the whole album. The time-frame means that blog posts don't serve as an archive. It's more about promoting soon-to-be-released material.

And from my brief experience so far, it works. I've paid money for at least two or three cds that I would never have even looked at without seeing the songs on blogs. I doubt they rob artists of any real income. Instead, they function much the same as radio, but without the commercial imperatives and the stacks of crap you have to wade through (you still get crap, but you only have to listen to it once!)

Anyway, two sites I recommend are Said the Gramophone and Fluxblog. Check them out.