Sign the deal, get cash up front, and then begin the drudgery of complying with Apple's byzantine requirements as a group.
> They said sorry - you need to use this software - there is no other way.
It would have been easy for Apple to work with entities such as CD Baby to whip up an alternate method to handle the importation of large catalogs of music. Once specified I'm sure such a trivial web API could be implemented and tested quickly.
But Apple and Jobs didn't do this because they knew they had the power to insist that their software be used even though it was only suited for single CD submissions.
I find it interesting that many commenters are critical of Sivers while completely overlooking Apple's abuse of power.
dmourati not only recognized the abuse of power but recommended a method for meeting it head on.