Fame is worth more than Fortune

Just ask Google who they can make more money off! David Beckham or Warren Buffet.
Granted, Beckham isn't exactly poor, but that's the point really.
'Pure-play advertising', for want of a better term, where the advertisement is force-fed to the customer through barely concealed restraints, is just not going to cut it any more. Advertisers need to be much more subtle nowadays, but more than that, they need Fame in any form, in order to sell their products.
Clay Shirky wrote a piece about Fame vs Fortune where he talks about how micropayments don't work. Well, I agree to some extent, but I think the logic is; if you're not famous, people aren't going to pay money for your content, and if you charge money for your content then you're not going to be famous (without substantial upfront investment in making you appear famous before you actually are).
The latter model is the one used by the Record Companies and it's an outdated model that they are trying to cling on to, in order to preserve their way of life.

Startling news (sic) was released recently that Digital Recorders actually raise viewership . In other words, increasing accessibility to content improves its distribution and increases its audience.

The value of having a large audience is becoming very clear in the market and fame is the personification of large audience figures. While fame generally applies to an individual or group, branding applies to a concept or theme. Is Harry Potter famous or a brand? In the end it doesn't really matter, the audience is enormous, the merchanising is astronomical, because it is a community. A community of people who experienced the material, liked it and want more. Why else would someone buy a Harry Potter towel, it doesn't dry you magically, it's just a towel. What it does is increase your sense of belonging to the community/club.

Free content creates Fame/Brand. Fame and Brands create Communities, and communities generate revenue.

As Clay says, the shift in publishing power is epochal and accelerating. Where people are prepared to offer content for free, the market for paid material is going to be very tough for all but the very famous. The chance of achieving this level of fame and the fortune that will undoubtedly go with it, is likely to keep the trend for free content accelerating.
Nobody wants to introduce mental transaction costs into an equation they hope is going to make them famous.