Record companies have been dealing with this loss of control for almost a decade and are continuing to adapt. It's physical product retailers who have more of an issue as they are the ones dependent upon the street date to make their money, which is why so many have gone out of business.

There have been "Hear it before you can buy it" and "Win it before you can buy it" campaigns on radio for many years. This has extended to full album previews through Last.FM, imeem, MySpaceMusic, iLike, etc. Even when the music isn't great, some fans are still going to buy it because they are just that, fanatics.

The "record industry" did not become concerned about the U2 leak nor did it make the inquiry with Last.FM. The Recording Industry Association of America ("RIAA") did, presumably on behalf of Universal Music its largest and most powerful member. This isn't a matter of semantics. There are thousands of recording musicians in the U.S. and around the world who are not represented by the RIAA nor do they share their agenda.