Well, the bands I listen too don't play for much more than 30 EUR (for a full event with a few dozens of them). And some even encourage that people download their stuff or even put it directly online.
There is a whole huge scene of bands out there who are not playing by the rules of the show-bizz and I am not talking about some crappy neighborhood bands but the Extreme Metal scene where bands issue their stuff at small labels and as most do not make a living of it they make real art and are true to their fans instead of making expensive shit.
And we the fans actually BUY their stuff, because we want to. We buy T-shirts, official patches and albums... and the best of it is that we can even mosh and have a few beers with the musicians while another band is playing.
This is the scene I know, and we are millions around the world, but I am aware that other scenes work much in the same way such as the dance scene.
What the masses do, I don' t care. I just don't give a fuck about media for the stupid. And well, Pirate Bay is not getting too much attention from me either, al being said.