Why pay for something if you can get it for free?
People do it all the time.
A lot of comes from emotional reasons, other times its convenience or quality reasons.
Like how you can get your Federal taxes completed for free but a lot of people end up paying for it.
I like to watch movies before I pay for it to see if it's worth buying in the first place.
I use it as a filter as many other file sharing people do.
The major movie production companies don't like us to look before we buy.
I could download it and burn it to a DVD but if the movie is good I buy it.
Oh, so they won't admit it, huh? How do you know this big secret?
I'm trying to find the news article on it but it was told by an industry insider supposedly.
It proves that the artist lose very little if anything from file sharing.
The main loser is the industry production corporations.
They are failing to adapt to the new market place.
So why don't they all give away songs for free now? Nothing is stopping them.
And that doesn't apply to books.
Some do and some don't.
Like yourself, some people still believe that people won't pay for it when it is free to download.(That's not meant to be insulting.)
It's a psychological barrier.
They don't realize that airing the content is just a part of the larger campaign to earn money for your work.
Most notably are live performances which generate the best revenue for music artists.
Artistic works are unique. But hey, where's the superior version come from anyway?
Almost all art is built in prior works and/or inspiration.