Piracy is the reason that labels license their content to streaming services like Spotify. Without the threat of piracy, they would happily maintain the CD-era pricing.
How about the idea that technology is the reason, not piracy?
As the article mentions, there's a broadly accepted argument that fans have been ripped off for years before the internet came along. It's not about "Napster" coming along, it's about the internet arriving and giving us new ways to get media. CD-era comes to an end regardless of legal status of any particular online resource.
As more artists chose to upload their own music, the big-wig artists looked on, dwindling sales infringed upon by... what's this, indie bands previously only seen at local pubs? The horror!
Access > Granted is defined as "piracy" too often, but I'm not saying piracy isn't a thing, it's just not the whole picture.
I can't believe I'm paying for Netflix, but then again, no ads, HD quality. As for music.... hmmm. TO be honest I'd appreciate Netflix getting into music and offering me a good deal on their add-on music service. I'd prefer not to pay another whole $10-ish per month for music. I want package deals because my wallet wants that.
