It's not so much "wrong-headed" per se as one of those unfortunate though broadly understandable facts of life, methinks...
Yes, I'd go along with that. In fact serious academic works have always been pricey. We only notice this because other aspects of access to classical music have become as cheap as chips, or even free. Early collected sets of Beethoven Symphonies or Wagnerian Operas on 78 were so prohibitively expensive that 'record libraries' had to be established - so that private individuals could enjoy them over a few limited days.
The idea of paying top price - or even any money at all - for an opera or symphony recording now strikes as oddly old-fashioned. We expect our pleasures instantly, and
gratis :(
Indeed - and sometimes at the expense of those producing the goods (not that those who think that everything should be for free would give a monkeys about that, of course!)...
