I share pretty much the same views Tony. Artistic vision or not, my bottom line is that if a band has managed to secure these types of distribution rights into their contract, for whatever reason, the labels should be compelled to adhere to that contract.

At the end of the day, the choice should be that of the artist's. I don't necessarily listen only to full albums, even when the songs are al mixed together very well. But I only collect full albums. I also know that the global market reality puts me in the minority.

I can't even begin to think of how shite I'd feel about a collection of random scattered songs on one of my players. At least iTunes and newer iPods still allow you to browse by album, even if you only have one or two songs from said album.