I find myself often in a situation where I’ve enjoyed the services of one musical group or another, and I’d like to compensate them. The trick is that I can’t seem to find good ways to do so without giving a large fraction of the money to someone else: a record label, music store…
I always thought that it would be a good idea for bands to put up a paypal account on their websites through which they could accept donations. That way I’d be able to kick in when I felt the urge without feeling like I was lining the pockets of them that don’t deserve it.