Really?
Wow...I find these comments really depressingly uninformed and the ire misdirected. So much so that I need to seriously reply. I don't know how much of the writing is sarcasm, but I reply none the less.
I've had several jobs in my life including musician, hardware engineer, and software engineer. My opinions are based upon my personal experience.
If you think musicians make more money than software engineers, you are seriously misinformed.
The performance royalties for playing on a CD (if you can get them) are about 5% total. Split among all performers. In a typical five piece band you make 1%. That's one of the reasons for a decrease in band size.
The song writing royalties are also about 5%. Split among all the writers.
You do the math. It takes a lot of sales to actually make a living doing this. Most just scrape by.
If you are a studio musician you get no royalties only per session - flat or hourly fees. In the US plumbers, electricians, basically almost anyone else makes more.
Most performers who play for performance royalties do not receive advances. This is like writing software or fixing code and only getting paid if someone uses it.
These royalties are less for digital releases (and of course given the conversation here and everywhere else, easily avoided completely).
Musicians were largely amateur unless supported by a patron, like most artists, until the the middle class started to develop (somewhere around 1700-1800). We are rapidly heading back to that time. To be a decent musician requires hours of practice relative to performance; easily a ratio of >20 to 1. This means that your hourly rate of $20 per hour is more like $1 per hour. If you don't believe me, follow the amount of money in this business. It's decreasing year upon year. Or try to learn to play or sing something and make a living doing it.
There are some very successful musicians just like there are some very successful software engineers. Characterizing an industry based upon these folks to rationalize your own ethical choice is pretty lame imo. Would that all coding that you do be free as well for those that don't want to pay for it (including any hourly fees or salary you might make)?
I don't like the idea of rebuying my releases when the distribution medium changes either, so I don't. But most many companies now issue multiple vinyl/digital releases. CDs don't matter as they're digital anyway. Ripping from You Tube? Sure if that's the only way that a song is available. But to avoid paying someone for their work? Doesn't work for me.