I've come across MOre new music - and followed alot of it up and bought some of the stuff - since having the net available than ever before. I'd say as much as 80% of what I've purchased over the last year or two have been things I've come across on the net, and listened to.
I admit there's things i've downloaded and then not gone onto buy the original....... but that's normaly because it's crap, or it's just waiting in the queue, which is growing faster than my bank balance can handle
As said above, owning the original is obviously prefered to a downloaded copy.
There's a lot of talk about how, because people are downloading music, they'd probably be willing to pay for it. Many people would rather just download select tracks £0.99 a tune etc etc....
If I'm honest, I don't think I would/will be up for that. I use it to discover and experiment with new music. The fact that I can do this without having to fork out is the reason I've been able to come across so much new music with it. If everytime I seen an artist who slightly caught my attention, I wouldn't be willing to fork out to get a decent listen. I'd rather be able to explore without having to pay out, and go from there. If I like it, I'll pay out for the original.
I'm sure there'd be instances where I might be willing to pay for an individual download. I like what warp records have done. They're looking to make their entire catalogue available. That includes alot of raraties. Things that were available on limited vinyl pressings and such.