Music on the radio (and later MTV) has always been free for fans. Advertisers paid for it on the fans behalf. In fact the record labels were willing and eager to actually pay to have their songs playing for “free” on the radio, but that was deemed illegal.

Record company execs monetized those free plays by selling packages of convenience in the form of discs and tapes so that fans could have, on demand, the music that they liked. Those packages also had collection and connection value to fans, which the industry has all but forgotten. Not surprising, I guess, since the industry is predominantly run by lawyers. (See Rule #1)

The MP3 is now the most convenient medium for music rendering the convenience of tape and disc packages irrelevant. The problem I see is that the industry is trying to treat MP3s as the replacement for the packages they once sold. They want to now sell MP3s: just the audio files, but they have never sold audio files. They gave audio files away for free on the radio. Record companies and performers sold packages. It should not be surprising when people view these naked MP3s as FREE. It's just a type of radio. It's not what fans buy.