[stimpee]

I'm not happy with the first point either, but thats how things are these days and its how artists are being discovered from giving their music away (unintentionally via torrents, or intentionally like Radiohead or The Charlatans and to a certain extent Underworld who gives us loads of free stuff). Its not a clear cut justification to steal the music but if you do discover a band via downloading and then give money to the band afterwards it has to be seen as a positive thing. Good things come from bad.

I see your point about the own label thing. Blagging means begging or scrounging or being cheeky and asking the right people for the guest list. But this is just a small part of the 'hospitality' that venues have.