Sometimes it seems the music retail industry is defined by the malevolent, two-assed demon of Clear Channel and the RIAA. But lost in the shuffle is the fact that, even without out resorting splitting ethical hairs to justify snagging tracks off the peer-to-peer flavor of the month, finding and purchasing music is vastly less risky and costly than ever before.

First, in case you missed it both Border's and Barnes & Noble now have listening posts where you can listen to just about any CD in the store. In the case of Border's, you just scan any CD - most non-compilation CDs seem to work - and you can flip through the tracks and listen for a few minutes. It cuts out after a while but you can just restart it.

Barnes & Noble has similar listening posts but, oddly, the system only lets you preview a few seconds of each song on a CD; a silly limitation, apparently designed to discourage you from bringing along a plastic beach chair, a thermos of Margarita and a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and settling in for the afternoon.

Now, Border's and B&N aren't the end-all, be-all of music selection, but they are light years ahead of what you would think constituted music if you only had your FM dial. Unless you have a not altogether irrational fear of acquiring the previous user's ear mites, this represents a sweet opportunity for the browser in search of some fresh new tunes.

For a more comprehensive music choice you can visit the wonderful site: All Music Guide, a labyrinthine archive of music reviews linked in the most convenient possible way for those who are exploring for new musical experiences - they are linked by their similarity to other artists.

Say you like Creed...no don't - not Creed, anything but Creed. Let's say you're me, and somewhere along the way you stumbled on the music of Pizzicato Five. You like it and you want more of the same sort, but where in the world would you find related stuff? Not on Hot 95.5 or Classic Rock 102.7, that's for sure.

All Music Guide to the rescue. I can look up Pizzicato Five and find not just similar artists, but their direct influences and artists they have subsequently influenced. I can even find artists based on whether I want something lighter and more playful or darker or more energetic or more sensual, more sober - you name it. Click the link, read the reviews, and follow the path to the next artist. Sample the fare at your local listening post or back at good ol' Amazon. In my case, this lead me to Kahimi Karie, and Cibo Matto; next on my list is Towa Tei (see all below).