Of course it makes sense.

I've thrown away just about every free CD I've ever been handed. Only listened to about half of them. Giving it away diminishes the perceived value off the bat. (Case in point: eiyosus has linked to an undoubted boundless universe of free music...that I am in no way whatsoever interested in accessing, because the price ($0) is a reliable signal of the likely value of the content (zilch).)

And besides, production value is important, and if the investment into it has been made, it has to be recouped.

I agree that the age of the U2-type album-oriented megabands is coming to a close, but it doesn't fill me with exuberant expectation for some liberated future. I fear that it will mean the end of the Album, which is something I cherish. I think the most recent truly great albums, by of Montreal and Mars Volta, were back in 2008. My own current-CD purchases have diminished spectacularly over the last few years, from something in the 30s in 2005 to, I think, 5 in 2010. And this is not because I download. I don't download.

Some of the formerly great album bands have issued direct statements saying that it's just not worth it anymore, and many, many budding album bands have simply not sold enough copies of their debut for the label to float a sophomore effort.

Can this happen to movies, too? I really wonder.