So when "the album" is officially dead what will we be left with? Just a bunch of one hit wonders? Sure, we basically have that now but there are still artists making good ALBUMS these days like the new Modest Mouse CD which is a good ALBUM the whole way through.

So now all an "indie" artist has to do is slap together a song and slap it on itunes and hope for the best? I think you will see modern music turned into even MORE of a commodity than it already is with this model. Not that I'm a fan of the established music industry[major labels] in any way because they are, of course, evil. But what I do see is A LOT of crappy music being made these days from both indie labels and majors alike.
You say that you don't have to buy a whole "crappy" album now but my first thought is why does every album have to be "crappy" to begin with these days? There was a time when artists were turning out classic albums and I include the cover art in that as well.
No, I don't think that downloads will save the music industry. Perhaps we've reached the point where everything that can be created has already been created and we are collectively out of ideas. I know that even a lot of indie music these days sounds "stale" to me right out of the box. It's pretty much all a rehash of old ideas. THIS is what is taking down the music industry as a whole. Right now I'm listening to Interpol's "Turn on the Bright Lights" CD a a very good and fairly modern album[2002] but as good as it is even I have to admit that it is a rehash of old styles.

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It's all in the hands of the artist to put out compelling content, not restricted to some executives opinion.

Amen.

Your theory sure does sound ideal but I don't think it will turn out as smoothly as you think. Actually, the internet has been around for a while now and indie artists have had the opportunity to sell there art here for years via their own websites but that hasn't played out too well because the mass market still goes for the corporate tripe.
And here's a question for you, what make you think that itunes won't become yet another corporate bottleneck for artists? Here we are again relying on a huge corporation for distribution yet again. A corporation who only has THEIR best interests in mind. It's an endless cycle. And I'm sorry but I still think that .99 cents for a compressed file is WAY too much.

IMO it is just another reincarnation of the music industry. From what I have read, back before the early-mid 60s the music industry was centered around singles. Albums as an art form (one with themes and unified vision) didn't really exist in a deep sense until albums like Rubber Soul and Pet Sounds.

I think we are seeing a cyclical retreat into that type of mindset among consumers, an unfettered retreat into meaningless, thoughtless bacchanalian revelry. I think the Phoenix needs to burn a little before it can once again rise from its own ashes in a new and revitalized form.

Once people get tired of singles again, they will be looking for artists who are expressing a deeper and more unified message in a collection of work (an album). It is a natural cyclical pattern in life between generations, though it may be new to the commercial music industry that isn't that old as of yet in terms of human history.

Disregarding downloads, as audiophiles, we shouldn't be buying albums just because they have one good song. We should be buying albums because they are well produced with talented musicians and techs. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, The Flirtations had one good song released. But all their albums were well produced. In other words, The Flirtations were a very talented group of singers that immigrated to the UK from the USA. They hooked up with a great producer so all their albums are well produced and all the musicians that were involved did a great job. They were very popular in certain regions of the USA and most of the UK. So, even though they had one Pop Top 40 hit doesn't mean their albums necessarily suck. I posted a youtube thing on this group in the Rock forum.

http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=21548&an=0&page=0#Post21548

It is a sad thing when an otherwise good album is engineered by #######s. The Flaming Lips have written some really great albums, but they were engineered so badly for CD and DVD-A that they are basically unenjoyable on any Hi-Fi equipment. Whoever engineered the albums made them clip excessively just so they sound obscenely louder when you put them in a CD player at normal volume levels. Too bad, because the music is really good, but it is useless for anything but low-end car stereo systems. That's what you get when you hire people who don't know what the hell they are doing...