I see this as regressive, not progressive. It is a regression to a time before recorded music, when the only way to listen to music was to attend a live performance. That appears to be what they want, and I understand the inherent romanticism in that, but I don't want to go back to that time.

Live music is amazing, but it is also a rare treat. (For me; I assume that many people here hear live music regularly.) Perhaps they want to force their work to be a rare treat. But I spent an hour last night, after lifting, just sitting on my couch with my iPad, listening to the punk music that was my soundtrack to high school. It was amazing, and made possible because of the ease of recording, distributing and listening to digital music.

Although, something to consider is that they must realize that once they start hosting these listening sessions, bootleg recordings will crop up. Perhaps they are counting on that, and this will be a way to have their cake and eat it too: their lone physical copy will remain special because it is the only real copy, but everyone will hear the music through the bootlegs, which will gain notoriety for being the only way to hear the "unique" recording.