Free music downloading can benefit the industry through sampling effects. [contrarian]
Peitz, Martin, and Patrick Waelbroeck. “Why the Music Industry May Gain from Free Downloading—the Role of Sampling.” International Journal of Industrial Organization 24, no. 5 (2006): 907–13.
SEED: A potential essay angle: exploring how seemingly harmful piracy can function as marketing, and how this economic paradox maps onto other digital industries (books, software, games).
Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, loc. 1373