Well if we're getting onto the music industry then I think in some ways pirated music has been a boon to the fans. Groups are now having to perform live for their money rather than sitting in their villas and mansions just waiting for their monthly royalty cheques to arrive.
The live music scene has never been healthier than it is today. 80's & 90's bands are having to come out of their self imposed exiles and start actually working for our money. Gone are the day's when an artist can cut an album and then just sit in luxury in their ivory towers until they deemed it the right time to cut another album to keep them in the lifestyle they have become acustomed too. It seems to me that a good solo artist or group can still make an execptionally good living. But they have to perform live to do it these days. It's the record companies that are crying into their cocktail's. As the middlemen they're suddenly realising that they can be dispensed with. That's why more and more artists are recording in independant studio's and releasing and selling their own music online in the form of downloads or hard copy mail order cd's. A lot of the main players in the music industry have acted like parasites on the backs of the artists they're suppose to represent since the first ever record went on sale. Raking off huge percentages of an artists income and then dumping them as soon as they fell out of favour. The internet has been a remarkable servant to the people who make the music and their fans. Less so for the business empires built on sucking the blood out of them. And it's ironic that the pirates have had the greatest influence in bringing about these changes for the better. The music industry produces music they want us to hear. The internet gives us the music the people want to hear. Their is a difference!