] Artist representatives say a singles-oriented model means
] a significant hit to the bottom line. Instead of divvying
] the spoils of a $12-$18 CD sale, labels, artists and
] songwriters are vying for nickels and dimes from 99 cent
] downloads.

Oh what a load of BS. If I'm not particularly hungry, am I forced to buy a 7-course meal? If I only like one or two songs by a group, why should I have to buy the whole freaking album? And how is this different from CD singles? What they propose is akin to them saying, "radio stations can't play only one of our songs - you have to play the entire album in sequence."

They want me to buy the album? Fair enough. So start giving us an albums worth of good songs - not 1 or 2 decent tracks and a bunch of mediocre (at best) "filler". The shortsightedness of this is amazing.

Laughing Boy

BILLBOARD: Artists opposed to online music stores