Illegal file-sharers: friend of the struggling musician?

Here's the bad news, musicians. Illegitimate file downloading has definitely hurt the legal sale of your content, a recent academic paper confirms. This is particularly true for very popular music groups. But there's also good news -- at least for smaller bands. The widespread dissemination of MP3 files over the Internet has encouraged a "broader awareness" of lower-profile musicians, something that may have paid off for them through more concert ticket sales. "File-sharing may increase awareness of smaller, more obscure artists and their music by making the music available from more sources and at a much lower cost (or for free in the case of illegal file-sharing)," three scholars conclude. This has probably translated into more interest and boosted demand for their live concert appearances.