IMO, they're just getting the government to protect them so they can continue to overcharge for what I don't want.
Sometimes they remind me of the airline companies. Some of the music companies "get it" (the ones going through Apple's music store) just as some of the airline companies "get it" (Southwest Airlines), and others don't.
They know if they don't do something, they will start losing money. The times, they are a changing. If the music companies, just like the airlines, aren't willing to change, they deserve to go under, and it's capitalism at it's finest.
Just like the airlines, they goto the government saying "protect us, bail us out, prop us up", and like good little bought-and-sold politicians, our government will use our tax money to bail these companies out.
The fact that the airlines were losing money before 9/11, or that the American public was getting tired of the crap that passes for music, is information they want you to forget.