"Polarizing the public"
The public is already polarized - you can see it on forums and websites posting their displeasure online, albeit not doing anything about it other than that.
First you have the pirates, that believe they have the right to take everything for free - which isn't true.
And then you have the copyright nuts, which either don't have the technical skills necessary to pirate something, or have more than enough money to throw around buying all kinds of filth comming from BigMusic or BigMovie, and thus believe that everyone can and should buy everything they use, at the prices dictated by others.
All this, when the answer lies in the middle - there are some things which should be free - for example 128kbps mp3 versions of songs, which are decent quality to sample, but leave something to be desired ; or DVD versions of movies - which again, are nice to sample, but far from good.
All these would act as "samplers".
You get the mp3's, you listen, and if you like, you buy the physical high quality media, and promotional items, and of course - the experience of going to a concert.
Or, you get the movie samplers, you watch, and if they're good, you buy the HD version, or go to a cinema to enjoy the movie with your friends.
But, that would mean having the choice to filter what you like from everything being launched at the same time, and being able to make an informed decision on what you invest your money in.
And that means the possibility of decreased revenue from the next "The Sequel of the Sequel 4", or the current airhead music celebrity...
And we couldn't have that, could we ?
I'll get my coat.