I'm willing to pay to download songs legitimately, but I don't know
which website/service to use.  Could you please recommend a service or
provide descriptions and pros/cons of a few existing services?  Here
are my requirements:  1) must allow me to download regular mp3 files
that I can burn on to CDs.   2) must work with the Windows Me
operating system (which I am stuck with for now)
Apple iTunes sounds great, but it does not work with Windows Me.  I
also looked into Rhapsody, but I disliked how they only offered
streaming music as opposed to mp3s.  Please help!

i don't know of a place to buy music, but amazon.com does offer some
free music downloads of independent and major label artists.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/468646/ref=m_mh_mn_dd/104-1737284-8265560

I use iTunes and its great, you can download iTunes and it will work
with your Operating System.

BuyMusic.com also works great.

http://napster.com

the new legal napster 2.0

iTunes, and the other services that use material from the major record
labels, do not provide you with unrestricted mp3s. With iTunes, you
can play the AAC tracks it provides on up to five specific computers;
the other services vary.

The only service I know of that offers unrestricted mp3s that you can
burn to CD as often as you like is eMusic.

http://www.emusic.com

The basic service is $9.99 per month, for which you can download 40
tracks. You can spend more for more downloads per month, or buy
'add-on' packs of a specific number of tracks. Although I personally
think eMusic is marvellous, I hesitate to offer it as a complete
answer because the 400,000 tracks do not include the major record
labels, so most 'big name' artists aren't there. There are lots of
brilliant independent labels though.

There is a download manager program, which should work with your OS.
However, members of eMusic can now disable the download manager and
download tracks directly from weblinks. You can sign up for a free
trial (50 tracks) to get a feel for whether you'd like it or not.

Let me know if this is what you're looking for; if so, I'll post it as an answer.

thanks for all your comments--they gave me some ideas for other places to look

and to alisonscott:  I think you are right that it is currently
difficult to buy unrestricted mp3s online.  I truly appreciate your
effort, and although eMusic looks like a great resource for finding
mp3s by small-label artists, I was actually looking for a place to
download mainstream music.

So I think I will cancel this question.  I may post a clearer question
in the future about the best place to find restricted mp3s.

Thanks again