More and more artists, across more and more genres are recognizing the truth of the last decade. Musicians are more exploited and less empowered.
Classic Rock Revisited: The Internet changed a lot for the industry; piracy has certainly had a hand in changing the game. Do you think that piracy can be beneficial to some of those bands starting out? How has it affected you?
Yngwie: How could it possibly be positive? If you go into a store and you see a car that you like, you can’t just drive off with it. The cost and the blood and sweat and tears that go into making music is the same thing, it’s not free. Try telling the engineer and the producer that they have to work for free. It’s utterly bizarre. It’s like just going into a store and taking things off the shelves. It’s stealing. The reason there are no bands coming out now is that the money that was once there is not there anymore. So what happened was, in essence, by pirating music, you kill the music industry. The music industry died because of the piracy, and now all the fans will have no new music. Isn’t that wonderful? It’s a direct consequence of that.
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW AT:
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/yngwie-malmsteen-the-music-industry-died-because-of-the-piracy/#1OZMq3k6ja5r60fI.99
The Trichordist 
An established musician who’s reaped the benefits of a once bloated music industry is hardly the most credible voice to cry that there are no new bands. Perhaps no new bands in the 80s metal genre (which most would argue has nothing to do with piracy, just an evolution of taste). There is plenty of new music. Great new music. Actually, it’s hard not to argue that there isn’t more music then ever. I’m not going to disagree that blood sweat and tears deserve to be compensated (I’m sure that antidote applies well beyond music for those not being fairly compensated for their time). But the swell of people making music indicates that many musicians are not bothered by the lack of compensation, because they know it’s not realistic. This sentiment probably does have a direct correlation to piracy. One could argue that 99% of musicians are hobbyists and it’s the 1% of professionals employed by the industry who are raising all the fuss. I’ve heard this argument that smells of elitism that the quality of music suffers because of piracy from this fortunate 1% contingent. The reality of purchasing music is that it’s no longer necessary. Larger sums of money going to musicians from fans must be thought of as donations because the need for vinyl, CDs and Mp3s exists less and less. I’ll buy MP3s to support an artists, but I don’t really want or need the MP3. So what am I doing? Your enemy is not solely tech, it’s consumers. That’s a losing battle.