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You hit the nail on the head, Holo: the recording houses are selling an inferior product. People are buying it. To those people, the one song is worth $20.
If you don't want to buy a CD without knowing that you'll like almost all of it, go into a record store and have a listen. They all have listening posts where you can listen to the entire CD, usually for as long as you want, for free. If you're not satisfied that the CD is worth the price, hand it back to the attendant and politely inform them that you don't want it.
That is how the music is presented to you: as a complete album. If you only want one track, buy the single. But you have no right to determine how music is sold to you; if the price for a CD is more than you believe it to be worth, don't buy it.
Think of the most expensive restaurant in town. Do you think the prices there are justified? Would you pay to eat there tonight? No! It's overpriced! But do you think that gives you the right to walk in to the kitchen and take the food anyway?
As for your damaged CD, go ahead and download another copy. It probably comes under fair use, particularly if you retain some proof of purchase for the recording, or a copy of the police report you filed about the theft of your CD. Better yet, if you feel that your recording may be damaged or stolen, copy it first and leave the original in a safe place. As for replacing a broken cassette tape with an MP3, that may be something more of a legal minefield. You probably would have paid less for the tape than for a CD, and you are paying less because the quality is lower. I'm not sure if replacing a cassette tape with a near-CD quality MP3 falls under fair use.
On second thought, I'm not sure replacing any damaged recording medium with downloaded material is legal. If I drop my stereo and it breaks, that's my bad luck; I don't expect the company to provide me with a new one for free. If it's stolen, it's covered by my insurance, and I expect your Metallica CD is as well. If you don't have insurance, then I'm afraid that's your problem.
And I am not defiant of legal authority. I did not jaywalk out of defiance for the law. The police have a legal right to prevent me from jaywalking, and the laws against jaywalking are written in the better interests of society. I jaywalked because I was hungry and I wanted to get to lunch, and I didn't feel like waiting for the lights to change.
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Strewth
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