8-tracks are definitely the way to go.
Listening to music without paying for it is, according to our good friends at RIAA, stealing. Buying a CD, then sharing it is conspiracy to steal, which isn't any better. Downloading music via Kazaa, Limewire, et al provides no return money to the artist (or, more importantly, to the RIAA), so is stealing. Downloading from iTunes or similar provides no money to the RIAA, gives a significantly greater chunk of money to the artist than buying a RIAA-sponsored CD, and is legal (though the RIAA hates it because they get no money).
Search for this topic on slashdot.org, guaranteed to find endless hours of discussion on this very topic. Good luck,
Dan