Why is downloading music illegally good?

Most people would argue that downloading music illegally
is not good.  However, some artists do believe that downloading music is actually
helpful to artists and that it should not be illegal.

In
the link below, Janis Ian, who was a famous singer around 40 years ago, argues that
downloads help her.  She says that people download her music for free, but then become
more interested in that music.  This might inspire them to come to her site and buy
music there or to pay to go to one of her concerts.  She says that less-known artists
like herself actually benefit from downloads.

In this way,
downloading that is illegal now could be seen as a good thing for obscure artists who
simply want to get more people to listen to their music.  This might help them to sell
more music or more concert tickets.