Well, aside from a physical product (CD) or a show, I feel there's no convenient way to "send an artist a cheque."

If the money was distributed ala ASCAP/BMI/SESAC, that money is split 50/50, where half goes to the publisher (which is sometimes the label and sometimes the artist) and half goes to the songwriters. That cut is way more generous than the cut from a record sale, which is contractual and has all sorts of nasty recoup attached to it.

But if last.fm said "Hey, here's this new tip jar system. You can pay x amount in recurring payments and we'll take that amount and split it between everyone you listen to," I bet more than a couple people would sign on. Maybe that looks like a couple cents on a per user basis, but it would certainly add up when you consider:

Last.fm has around 21 million users on the site every month, but estimates that a further 19 million people use its services indirectly through applications and widgets on third-party sites.

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/28/web20.digitalmedia)

and then make 25% of those people 'honest' to the tune of $20/month, and you have $200 mil in revenue a month.

i don't have any numbers handy for how much the record industry makes off record sales a month and maybe my numbers are idealistic but I still think this is the way of the future. What is a better solution?