i don't see it as being passive aggressive. To me it seems like a statement of "how much is our work worth to you, how much or how little are you willing to spend." Obviously most people will do it for the lowest cost... but honestly i figure they assumed that and did it anyway, much like Prince did giving his CD away for free... They make more money on the merch/tour shit than on album sales anyway once the studios, distributors, retailers and the rest get their pound of flesh.

For example look at how it works in porn and how little per peice a company makes on DVD's that retail for twice what a CD sells for now days. Pretty much every musician i know makes the lions share of their money on tour, and not from CD sales anymore.

BBC has a wonderful breakdown of how the shares of an albums sales are distributed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/general/moneygoep01.shtml