I can't believe so many people are missing the moral of the story and focusing on the ethics part of it. Its not like he was harming anyone by making the copy and I'll bet he thought ethics was the last thing people on the blog would be talking about.
Now for the meat and potatos of the story: I think that you can apply this lesson (making it on your own before you ask for help) to many other areas other than the music business. Lets say you were looking for VC funding, don't you think the people funding it would be more impressed if you got your idea up and running without any help? When you do things with little or no help it shows determination and a will to succeed no matter what the odds are.
It could be that people are focusing on the ethics because the "meat and potatoes" of the story are stupid.
The author's main point is: if you're rich and famous, people are more likely to treat you as if you're rich and famous.
The author says you have to "make your own success," and as an example, he points to a "really bad metal" songwriter who was "in a band with a major rock star" and who helped to sell 20M records.
But surely not even the author believes for a second that this songwriter managed to sell 20M records "on his own." Surely there were publishers, promoters, record companies etc. involved, yes? If the songwriter in question was a surprise indie hit, surely the author would have said so?
I think the very idea that a business deal involving an advance payment is somehow a charitable cause ("asking for help") dramatically illustrates the the arrogance, the star-struck cult of fame and money that's brought the music business so low.
Now for the meat and potatos of the story: I think that you can apply this lesson (making it on your own before you ask for help) to many other areas other than the music business. Lets say you were looking for VC funding, don't you think the people funding it would be more impressed if you got your idea up and running without any help? When you do things with little or no help it shows determination and a will to succeed no matter what the odds are.