I remember when . . .
It used to be that all this software was a novelty idea being propagated by those crazy Mac people. So the rest of us, while talking about how much we'd like to be able to use our computers to record projects, could only pay studios or buy our own tape machines, etc for recording at home. SO I gotta wonder: If software weren't available to pirate, what would the pirates do?
It's sort of the same question that music fans who substitute mp3 files or rips of friend's cds might consider: would you buy the cd if you couldn't get the tracks by pirating the stuff? I remember when I had time to sit around deciding which songs I liked and what albums were cool, though at the time "mp3s" didn't exist. I know people with that kind of time now, who sit around with nothing better to do than dowload files, rip cds, and burn new ones. I also know people who have more important things to do, like go to work, or find friends.
SO the answer I suggest is this: the people who are serious about recording can't afford to risk instability in their system that a cracked program might offer, since they may well be charging some broke musicians $40/hr (or whatever) to track theur stuff. They need stability, tech support, and updates, all in as reliable a fashion as possible. The rest of the clowns who pirate the stuff, as talented as they might be, are low-end hobbyists in a pro's world. When it comes right down to it, not many of the people who are willing to mess with cracks and warez are going to have the money to buy the stuff anyway, so very few sales are lost to them. If they really want to get serious about operating a project studio on their computer, and expect to bill by the hour, they're going to need to face business realities soon enough. I can't tell you how many lousy home studios I've seen (or done tracking in) where there was a list of excuses ready at every turn of the broken knobs. Statements like "I just downloded this cool crack of Cubase" always leave me questioning the integrity of the person willing to violate copyright in the same moment that they want to record potentially profitable tracks that could pay the bills by HAVING ENFORCEABLE COPYRIGHTS. They're mostly gone now. The people who have survived in the long run started out (for example) by purchasing rehab decks and boards, putting in honest long hours, and making the stuff last until they could prove they knew how to use the equipment.
Even Kevin Mitnick agreed that "there aren't any 38-year-old hackers." Kids using cracked programs and warez will come and go, and the serious players in music biz will continue to do as they have always done - succeed by being talented and hardworking, and maintaining their integrity. People who pirate software and steal equipment (the analogous "hardware pirate") won't end up on the cover of trade rags as "master engineers" anytime soon.
The guy who said he didn't have the money to buy software because he's a student has a point - not to mention he probably has the time to mess with the stuff. He pirates at his peril. In the end, he'll get serious and buy what he likes or move on to some other hobby.
Here's a real-life story to help make my point: I spent 6 days helping a group transfer tracks to ADAT from Logic Audio. I had a lot of problems, and was ultimately forced to buy an expensive piece of equipment from MOTU to make the thing work. If I had not had Emagic tech and MOTU tech support available, the project would still be wasting my time, or not happening at all. Any of you out there ever wasted a week on a tech problem? Whose money/time were you wasting? If it was someone else's, you know what I mean about stability and support - you now have a "former customer."