While I agree that sometimes you find hidden gems in albums, I had all but stopped buying CDs in the early 2000's because invariably you'd find the one single that was getting airplay was worthwhile, and the rest of the album was complete crap. I feel that the model of requiring one to buy the entire album to get the airplayed single often resulted in abuse as the record companies would hype up the one worthwhile song, requiring you to pay $20 for it. At the time I got around this by using download services to establish what was worth buying, and only buying the CDs that I knew had a reasonable selection of good music.

At the same time, I've often noticed that every time the market in general takes a dive, and people cut back on luxuries such as buying music, you invariably see a bunch of releases from the record companies screaming about how piracy is behind their decline in sales. While I'm certain that piracy affects their sales to some degree, I'm not sure what the mix is between normal market forces as the market ebbs and flows, and the effects of illegal downloads.

Having Amazon and iTunes available today has been great for me. Overall, I spend more than I ever did in the 90's and early 2000's on music, even if it may only be a song or two off of an album here and there. I still buy entire albums from iTunes (or sometimes buy the CD itself if I really think an artist is excellent - I still like to have that CD), but like the option of just getting a song or two that meets my needs/tastes if the rest of the album sucks. I can guarantee if the only way I can get a cool song is to buy an entire album, the price is too high and I just won't buy it at all. Is some money better than none?

In my personal opinion, I think allowing users the choice between getting individual songs at a slightly higher price or an entire album at a discount is good for everyone. It forces more integrity with regards to Record Companies and Artists - requiring them to put effort into a balanced and talented album, rather than just one good song they're going to use to force everyone to buy the rest of their crap, and it allows the potential of a higher overall amount of sales as folks that maybe can't afford an entire album can still get a song or two off of it for a lower price. This model also makes piracy less attractive, as music as a whole becomes more affordable for a wider range of people, and someone buying the song knows that they can download it again if they lose it, that it is a complete file and is high quality, and that they don't have to worry about potentially malicious software or vulnerabilities that are sometimes bundled with the illegal software.