My opinion isn't really based in any logical fact, but I believe that music is about creating art, not making money. I feel that the record companies blow the "pirating" issue way out of proportion to scare people into buying music when that really shouldn't be the focus. I feel this way about all of society, honestly, but I think priorities need to be realigned in the music industry, because it's almost become a science. But music is something soulful and, in my opinion, somewhat spiritual. It's something that all humans are connected by, and all humans have a right to it. There has never (to my knowledge) been a society on the face of the earth that has not experimented with some form of music or another. It's one of our few linking qualities. So, for me, music has never been about making it big, getting a lot of fans, or making a whole bunch of money. The artists I respect the most are the starving artists: people like Amanda Palmer who go out there, tour their butts off, go home and realize they're still broke, then blog about how happy they are despite not having any money. I feel that Utada, despite being successful on a whole different level from Amanda Palmer, is the same way. I don't think her goal is money or making it big. As she stated in an interview, she's just making music, and if people want to listen to it, it's not like she would forbid them from pirating her stuff.
So, basically, yes, I do think pirating hurts the music industry as it is right now (at least, it hurts the record labels). But do I think it matters? No, not really. I say, if you truly want to support your favorite artists, ATTEND THEIR TOURS. Nothing is more rewarding to a musician than to see the faces of the people that love their stuff crowding together just to hear them play.
By the way, just for the record, I do almost always buy my music to financially support the artists I love. So this isn't coming from someone who illegally downloads globs of music. I just know that I'm privileged to be capable of buying the music: some people honestly can't. And, again, artists have, historically, never made a great deal of money- I don't see why that should suddenly become the priority now. I think that's why a lot of mainstream music in this day and age has lots its authenticity. Money and fans do not make good music- soul and passion do.

Love & Life,
Shuri/Eli