No question is a stupid question. Unless it's a
really stupid question. I don't think I'd have the patience to be a parent.
Anyway, a little story to explain my reasoning...
Waaaay back when, after upgrading from 56K to broadband (woah, you can use the phone at the same time as browsing the Internet!), downloading music through eMule/Limewire was pretty much the norm. That's how I discovered all the music I liked, really. It was a painstaking process of sifting through terrible bitrate/quality issues, avoiding viruses (Tupac_discography.exe), and piecing together an album from what a Google search told you the tracklisting was.
When I found myself listening to a specific band more and more, I made the conscious decision to save up my hard-earned and ponied up for the album. The quality would really impress me and it was great to have something physical in your hand.
Downloading was the way to
discover the music. After all, who would blindly pay £15 for an album they've never heard -- especially if they're of a much younger generation and don't have disposable income?
These days, we've got things like Apple Music and Spotify. I really think they're fantastic compared to what the alternative was, and a lot of people don't remember the state of things before big companies really started to take music streaming seriously. You can play/discover songs free of charge, or through a trial. Every play is guaranteed to be of consistent quality, and you know
something goes towards the artist. Even if they're shavings of a penny, or even if it just means that their play count goes up by one, it's
something.
I always think that if there's a legal, reasoned and convenient way to do something, people won't be as tempted to take the pirating route.
TL;DR: Streaming all the way to discover, listen, and create playlists. But if you really, really love an album, I'd still say you should buy it to support that artist a little more.
