Assume 50 downloads. That may not mean a lot to Radiohead but as a proportion of a run of 500 CDs it's a significant loss.

You're assuming they would have bought the CD in the first place, Howard! A download does not automatically equal the loss of a sale though this seems to be what people are suggesting here. I think the issue here is the artist feeling deprived because their vanity expects payment for their hard work, which may, or may not, run contrary to the spirit of folk I normally espouse, but certainly runs contrary to the way the Download Community relates to music both pragmatically and philosophically.

I'm not advocating anything here by the way, as certain people seem to think, just reporting on basic realities.