the first original album I purchased was sam smith's in the lonely hours on itunes after years of purchasing pirated cds. that was because I could afford it. I think no one in their right senses will go through the rigor of downloading pirated songs if they had the money. so the said pirates provide products/service to persons with low purchasing power, who make the bulk of the artiste's fans. and these set of persons help push the records which invariably helps the artiste.
No one really sells album these days
most artiste gain more from shows and endorsement deals, this is as the result of the hype they get from oridinary fan who may not be able to afford their music