File sharing has been shown to often lead to increased sales of actual albums. Not that most of the money actually goes to the musicians themselves, it goes to the record executives who do the marketing, packaging, etc. Genuinely indie bands do that stuff themselves, all the work for what's usually a smaller fraction of the cost to the consumer, and they still barely turn a profit--I've been to concerts my little brother booked where he had to pass around a hat at the end of it just so the band could have some gas money to get back to their hometown.

I certainly agree that real artists do what they love no matter what...but it takes a lot of time, dedication, and often resources to make the kind of work that's fit to show to the world, and good work is worth paying for just to make sure the artist can make more and that they don't die of starvation before they have a chance to get out a second book, painting, etc.