[eikenberry]

I don't think we will ever overcome thousands of years of ingrained social sharing Norms, nor do I think we should. And if distribution is the problem then there are good existing solutions to the problem of bandwidth cost, e.g. torrents.

There might be a way to monetize sharing digital content using some micropayment system like you say. Though I think that will have to come about after the current players have left or been marginalized as they don't care so much about helping the artists make a living, instead wanting to maintain control so they can get the money.