The recording industry screwed themselves. If they had launched MP3 sales right away, they would have had more control of the market. Sure, there are always people who are going to peer-to-peer download. But iTunes sales show that people will skip the hassle for $1 a song.

iTunes itself was not good for the industry because you had to have their software and the songs were proprietary. (Granted... most people burned them to disc, then ripped them to MP3).

I love what Amazon is doing. For about $10 you can grab an entire album right away at 256k MP3.

Also, the industry is crying about lack of album sales. However, singles sales ruled until the 60's and stayed alive (through 45 rpm records) well into the 80's. Hit singles (and the purchase of single songs) is certainly not a new concept. The industry simply got spoiled with album/CD sales.

In reality, things have returned to normal. Pop start put out singles, people by the single, it is disposable music.