Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie

So, an artist comes out and says, file sharing doesn’t hurt artists? Do you agree?
50 Cent: File Sharing Doesn’t Hurt Artists

I think I understand the point that he’s trying to say. Since the artists still go out and make their money touring and selling merchandise, the labels are hurting because they are the ones investing the money into producing and marketing the records but are receiving less of a return on their investment. That makes sense to me but I don’t know that ultimately, it doesn’t hurt the artist. 50′s point that artists aren’t being developed might be counter his thought of file sharing not hurting the artist. If labels are not willing to invest in an artist but are most interested in diversifying their revenue stream quickly, then that is hurting new up and coming artists.

If you aren’t being given the time or energy to grow and mature into becoming a better artist, and you are not producing the revenue that the labels are seeking, then you will get dropped from your label, and probably with some extra debt to go along with it.

It would seem to me that it would continue the current state that music is now. A top 10 or 20 single music format where you hear the same songs multiple times throughout the day on different stations. No diversity whatsoever. Produce the “big” artists, that only bring in the money you want from album sales and ringtones or whatever, and if an artist isn’t capable of creating that level of buzz, you ignore them. I think it’s this blandness of music and repitition that is probably leading people to move into file sharing. Thoughts?