For better or for worse, this is the path the music industry is treading. It's only a question of whether we're going to be dragged down that path or follow it voluntarily; one of the reasons that the music market is hurting so bad right now is because so many artists and corporate interests continue to push a tired and irrelevant paradigm, supplying pieces of plastic and obligatory digital media to an audience that has already usurped the industry and taken matters into their own hands. Record companies, from a logistical perspective, are becoming even more obsolete than they already were- direct artist-to-fan interaction and promotion has not only become easier: it has become essential. Fortunately, a lot of artists, such as Hikki, have been building that relationship since before the Internet era took dominance and the pirates cast ship, and as such they have a certain safety net of devoted followers who understand the importance of supporting them as applicators of creative force and with any luck always will. In the grand scheme of the shift that is presently occurring, Utada has very little to worry about- something she herself seems to recognize given some of her past statements regarding her feelings on the "illicit" downloading of her works.

Personally, it doesn't upset me that this occurred. This is the future of music, like it or not. I'm confident that the industry will evolve to match the needs of the artists and the audiences they cater to, and which cater to them. The only real threat present at this point is directed toward the record companies, which have neither built the necessary trust relationships between fans and themselves nor constructed a feasible and malleable system that is capable of changing with the tides. So this one's on them. I hope the CEOs of EMI and the like can figure it all out- best of luck to them. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the freedom to determine what's worth what for myself rather than having it dictated to me by a dying, impractical musical economy. :3