I'll take an almost opposing view. The popular music industry is definately evil treating the public like idiots and thier artists like disposable commodities.

However, there are some good independent labels that are able to concentrate on quality and still make a profit without worrying about the mass market (Rounder comes to mind but there are many others.) They don't have the same distribution as the major labels but the internet makes that less and less important.

I'm hopeful that MP3 and other innovations will take the big money out of selling music. I'm all for artists being paid what they deserve but right now the industry is heavy with middlemen who really add no value. Maybe if the lure of big bucks goes away these guys will go back to selling aluminum siding.