It is my understanding from what I've read that record companies have generally lost around 20% of their market in the last year alone - we're talking billions of dollars. This is directly related to copying and downloading. That's why Universal has dropped their CD prices substantially in hopes that sales won't dwindle completely. Artists need to have some financial incentive to record new material rather that just do it for promotional reasons or just for the love of the music they do. It costs a few bucks to put out a good recording project, and it would be nice to make the money back that's invested or even perhaps make a good profit for the effort.
Of course the internet is THE Place to market and buy CDS now, and it is fast becoming common place for downloading the music you want either for free or by fee - and is replacing the expensive purchase of a CD in comparison.