The way the industry is nowadays, you are better just making a go of it on the live scene, paying for recordings yourself and only copyrighting it or the sake of potential use in other media. That way, you can ignore average Joe downloading it for free as this is spreading your music far and wide and concentrate on where the money is for the artist, live shows. As long as you are reputable as a live artist and you are prepared to invest the time, you can make your living with the off chance of being large enough to release a profitable record later on with some industry backing.
Lilly Allen would be in some what of a conundrum if it wasn't for her already acquired fame/infamy. Having witnessed her at Bestival, I can say quite confidently that she doesn't have what it takes to be a live.
Anyhow, how ironic that she should be hiding behind the last defence of someone who definitely knew better. The legendary excuse; 'I didn't know any better.'
Biggest douch in the universe nominee anyone?