It's not true that album sales are a lost cause. Look at Bandcamp -- musicians made $2.5 million via Bandcamp over the last 30 days. What's changing is the model. No longer is it "pay a set fee to listen." Now it's "support the musician directly."
Bandcamp is a good service too, but there's no way it will completely overtake the place of cheap streaming that doesn't make anyone a lot of money. I agree that direct support is the way to go, but there's a place for both models.
