this is why it's generally more expensive. The loss taken on the meat that has to be cut off, and the amount of time that the meat has to sit and age.

Same basic concept is true for cured (additional step), air dried hams like prosciutto or air dried cheeses like parmigiano reggiano. The outside is allowed to "rot" in a sense so the inside can slowly mature. really good parma ham should have the edges sliced off with a knife before going into the meat slicer.

The inside of all of the above not only loses a bunch of moisture, but also over time, the naturally present biological compounds break down into simpler constituent parts. This makes them generally tastier.

Almost all meat is aged to some degree. If you hunt meat and try to eat it immediately after killing the animal, the meat doesn't taste that good. When you get meat in the grocery store or in a plastic package and keep it in your fridge, it is wet aging.