The reason I think this is nonsense is this: merchandising plays a critical role in the future of the industry. Vinyl especially, based on recent trends. Sales of that particular format are up by multiples, at least in the US.
See, CDs, mp3s, and flac all accomplish the same purpose. I have no use for CDs; I don't find them sexy, and they're a waste of space. I'm really against buying mp3s since we all know very well how easy they are to copy and distribute. The thing about vinyl is, you can't copy that infinitely. I can download all I want for free, but I have to pay to get the vinyl experience (the shelf-filling collection, full-size artwork, ceremonially taking one off the shelf and loading it...). Same goes for clothing, DVDs, and so on. I've committed to paying for products that I actually value to support artists (since I'm not a broke teenager anymore), and cutting corners like that is retarded. If the publishers can't put out a good physical product, my opportunities (and willingness) to give them money start to evaporate.
I know you're not a NIN fan, but go to
this page and click on the $300 limited edition. Look at what comes with it. They sold all 2500 of those in less than 30 hours. Yeah, NIN is huge, but that's still impressive. Fans are more than willing to open their wallets, but you've got to present compelling scarcities.
And for the record, I recognize that none of this is the fault of the band. For all the weeks in the studio, they got their part of the transaction done phenomenally well. Seriously, things like this make people want to fall back on the decades old pirate trope: I'm ready to just mail checks to the band personally. I understand the continued importance of the businessmen involved in the industry, but giving customers less for their money won't ever be a good long-term strategy.