When recordings replaced concerts as the dominant mode of hearing music, our conception of the nature of performance and of music itself was altered. ↗
A lot of artists are much more concerned about how their work is used and how it's disseminated. That, to artists, is as important as the money, for some people. ↗
There is no sense in owning the copyright unless you are going to use it. I don't think anyone wants to hold all of this stuff in a vault and not let anybody have it. It's only worth something once it's popular. ↗