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Whoever drew this is clueless. Record companies help musicians by promoting them, paying for studio time, music videos, licensing their music and getting out to the masses.
Sure acts could do this themselves but it is expensive and they usually don't have the big bucks to compete. Record companies invest (or 'bet") on a band hoping for big payoffs later on.
The "music should be free" people just don't understand the music business or business in general. Everything costs money.
The past 10 years saw huge amounts of piracy and a major market shift. APPLE for example, saw that people were no longer interested in whole albums, but in individual songs. iTunes made it easy for people to get individual songs, cheap enough to put a small dent in piracy, while still putting money in artists pockets.
As for $175 for a concert ticket, people should not complain. This compensates the band for losses due to piracy, and affords bigger shows with better and better production values. Of course it is unaffordable for alot of people, but since others are more than happy to pay this price to see their band, and since forums and stadiums even sell out at these prices, it is unlikely that prices will ever come down. It's not greed, it's the reality of the market.
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