Piracy didn't fuck artists over I think (anecdotal), because it was the precursor to Spotify which has been great for artist discovery. Until the industry / artists caught on and started pushing shit. And the payment model for Spotify is bad, a million streams earns about $3-5K according to a quick google and few actually get that far.
But it's good for discovery, and artists generally don't make much off album sales either; concerts and merchandise is where it's at.
But it's good for discovery, and artists generally don't make much off album sales either; concerts and merchandise is where it's at.