Actually, there are a lot of factors that are contributing to the decline of the music industry. Part of the blame is with the record producers that just couldn't see the digital revolution and fought it tooth and nail all the way. Napster played a part by distracting these folks from changing mode to protecting mode. Clearly the internet is where you will, in the future, get your music, liner notes, information on groups, etc. What is needed is a unfettered distribution channel for the music you want, in a format that suits your tendencies. I'd be willing to download an album in 24-bit 192kHz FLAC, and pay more for it than the guy that wants it in MP3. If either Amazon or the iTunes Music Store could negotiate with the labels for that, perhaps everything would be fine. But I don't see the labels budging off their press and print model — and so crappy music and piracy will prevail.
I read Appetite for Self-Destruction by Steve Knopper. It lays it all out in there, and is an interesting read if you are into the history of the record labels and their heads, but a little tedious at times.