It's theft plain and simple.
Many minority artists now run their own label like me
I invest in my own albums and pay all my own costs and have to sell a specific amount before I am in profit.I manage to do this,but many others struggle to break even.My cd is my product for sale, my song is my product for singing. Please have my lyrics and my chords and sing my songs,I own the copyright as do many artists and can do this as I wish. But if you want to own my performance of my work that has cost me a lot of money to make available to you, then you should be prepared to pay for it as you would a sack of apples from a farmer.
This other spurious idea that the theft of the tracks increases the artists audience..only if he/she can get the bookings.An artist not booked cannot be seen and an artist who has no record of how many cds have been stolen has no way of knowing what their potential audience is, so they cannot risk booking venues themselves and finding them a third full.
It seems to me that what we have here is a classic case of "if you cannot defend it, I will take it". The thieves know it is theft and tie themselves in knots trying to justify it on moral, or other grounds. It is no more justifiable than stealing a cd player from a shop, or bread from a bakers. It's just that it can be done, so it is done as there is no fear of punishment.
But please spare us the justifications
It's my life's work and I am entitled as are all others, including you, whatever you do to put bread upon your table,to benefit from my own labours
I know very well that had i been able to download when I was a young man I would probably have done it and many artists who's singles and albums i bought who were struggling to have their voice heard above the general din of dross, would have suffered as a result. I hope I would not have tried to justify my actions by compromising my principles. Ihope I would have admitted to theft and had the moral fibre to refuse to do it again. But then..I'm only human too! And I have never downloaded an illegal track and I promise I never will.
It's just solidarity with my co-workers.