You are NEVER going to stop downloading. Top bands in this country are quitting because of it oweing their record label hundreds of thousands of dollars. Personally I cant see a solution. I'm involved in the industry here at a high level and have had many such discussions and have listened to many suggestions NONE of which will work. Live shows suck because of the terrible public transport and the massive police presence to catch drink drivers. (also the spread out nature of our country) A top band in this country may get 300 people to a show but you can tour this country in a matter of weeks...then what do you do? Major labels in this country are hanging on by a thread... no longer signing bands and letting staff go. Universals office here is staffed by 3 people! The only thing we can do is record ourselves and release independently even going as far as giving our music away to hopefully generate enough interest to get some airplay and get people to shows. Then go out and tour twice a year while working day jobs for the rest of the year. Even the very top bands in this country all have day jobs to support themselves. I could ramble on for ages and this country is small so a bit different to others but I think that makes us ahead. If you watch what happens here it will eventually happen in larger countries.
