The music industry is getting more reality delivered to them, from Wal-Mart: the retailer is telling the industry that $15.99 for a CD is ridiculous, and that a price cut will be coming - or else they can kiss shelf space goodbye. Why do they need to care? Rolling Stone has this:

In the past decade, Wal-Mart has quietly emerged as the nation's biggest record store. Wal-Mart now sells an estimated one out of every five major-label albums. It has so much power, industry insiders say, that what it chooses to stock can basically determine what becomes a hit. "If you don't have a Wal-Mart account, you probably won't have a major pop artist," says one label executive.

I think the labels are in the "meeting people on their way back down" phase. They didn't make any friends on the way up, either.