But, but, muh "gateway"... Muh, "Stepping stone"...rabble-rabble-rabble.

It sucks. It's a drag. It doesn't pay well. But it's a right we all have. Anyone can have their life turned upside down in court, and the right to be judged by a jury of your peers is a right granted to everyone, provided that everyone takes turns being in that jury pool as well. It has to be random. It has to be well-mixed. And it has to be a civic duty. If I were to depend on 12 strangers to cast judgement on me, affecting the rest of my life I would want them to be willing and interested. I provide the same level of engagement sitting on a jury as I would hope to expect if the roles were reversed. It's similar to the Shopping Cart theory. Just be a decent person.

As mentioned above, pirating their music, or renting a CD from the library are ways to not directly support said artists, but in every instance, listening to an artist in some way supports them... If not adding revenue to their record label, that will in turn pay royalties to the artist, then simply by spending your own free time actively listening to their work will create interest, word of mouth, scarcity in renting a copy of it, added interest online for the download of the album, and various other less tangible effects of "support". Frankly the best way not to support them is to not listen to them at all. Any listening is supporting to some degree.