Just to offer a slightly different point of view. I agree with you that the current situation is a disgrace, but there are contractual issues.
1. Every time a file is copied, there is a "mechanical" royalty due to the song writer/song publisher of 7 3/4 cents. This means that if you download 100 tracks, there is a royalty payment of $7.75 due. That covers the song writer, but doesn't pay the record label who recorded the song. So, it's safe to say that there will be at least another $7.75 due. Together, that makes our cost $15.50. Assuming we want to eat, we have to charge something like $25 to $30. So that sets the minimum cost for a reasonable number of downloads.
2. Maybe even a worse problem -- most contracts record labels have (if they can find them) don't cover the electronic distribution of the tracks. This means that they have to go through their entire catalog and verify that they have the right or try to acquire the right through negotiation. A long, tedious process.
3. We can't sell anything until piracy is brought to a more "reasonable" level. If you can get it easily for free in the privacy of your own home, are you going to pay? Perhaps a few will.
So, to blame the wicked industry is an over simplification. They aren't Snow White but they aren't the Evil Empire. Just as consumers aren't Pirates or Princes, in spite of how the record industry is behaving.
It might help a lot if the rhetoric were toned down on both sides.