That's a perfectly fine position. However, if the record companies are so abhorrent, isn't Step 0 to stop listening to their music at all? Plus a Step 2 being some form of action to attempt to change the situation. Without that Step 0, it's a bit like saying "I hate Big Theater" while sneaking in the back door to enjoy the movies.
No, I don't think that's a valid Step 0. Here's a simple counter-argument:
If we were talking about Air Companies instead of Record Companies, you wouldn't say that Step 0 is to stop breathing air. You'd agree that in an environment where "stealing air" without a licence has been criminalised in some way, it is nevertheless acceptable to continue breathing even if it's illegal and costing revenues from the Air Companies.
So then the question reduces to: how comparable is music to air?
Obviously that depends on the person, but I'd argue that it's precisely those for whom music is most important, who have a relationship to music similar to one's relationship to air: it's a necessary part of life. Those are precisely the people most likely to still be spending significant sums of money supporting the record companies, and my argument is that those people have a moral duty to stop supporting the record companies.
Much like in the air analogy, though, that doesn't mean that Step 0 is for them to stop breathing or listening to music. I think Step 0, 1, 2, 3 and all the rest, consist of operating as if the record companies did not exist, and wait them out. Once the record companies have gone bust, we can start again with a system that's worth supporting.
Just my opinion, but I think it's very defensible.
It isn't all man vs. the machine. There are viable ways to give artists money without giving it to record companies. You can also buy music secondhand without giving money to record companies. And not every record company is evil, it's mostly the Big Five (or however many it is these days); there are thousands of non-subsidiary record companies that are totally friendly.
How does buying music second-hand give money to the artists? I agree it doesn't give money to the record companies, but it doesn't give it to the artists, either...
While one cannot stop breathing air, if there are thousands upon thousands of "air artists" and a handful of Big Air Companies, one can stop breathing air from artists who distribute their air through the Big Air Companies and switch to breathing air from small, independent air artists who distribute their air directly to consumers.
I don't see it as a breathe or don't breathe dichotomy. Plenty of independent artists one can support, assuming you find their air quality palatable.
