your dream has come true (Score 1)

re: I wish Apple would make a service called halfTunes that sold songs at 50 or 25 or free for bands that are looking for exposure, not profits.

While Apple does have a new feature offering a free weekly download of an up and coming artist, I agree with you that their focus is on big names, or new musicians promoted by big-name labels. But don't despair, grasshopper...

what you dream of exists on CNET Downloads. Under Home Entertainment, CNET offers an amazing variety of streaming and/or downloadable music from new artists, dead legends, local garage bands, international favorites, independent labels, and yes, even a few famous american musicians... Dwight Yokum & Allison Krause are among the handful of household names that popped up on a recent visit.

Mostly, it's a great place to discover new artists, even new genres.

Scroll through the artists by genre or popularity - when you see one that catches your interest, you can click to an album page, where you can listen to samples, stream a whole song if it catches your interest, and in many cases download a free mp3 of one or more songs from the featured album.

This is not the place to find lots of free and legal downloads of popular artists, but rather a nice venue for the smaller names and labels to exhibit their work and offer you a free sample of what may one day be the next big thing... or may always remain a quirky, unusual secret among a few diehard fans in the know.

Caveat: MP3s only. But no worries - if you insist on lossless formats, you can use this site to discover new artists, and then follow the links to purchase their CDs. Some of these songs may even already be on iTunes - just not promoted there.

Why am I doing this? Now one of my all-time favorite sites will be slashdotted for days...