I think I agree with you, but democratizing distribution is still orthogonal to the piracy problem. On the one hand, I'm more likely to pay an artist if the only official way I can get their art is to purchase from their website. On the other hand, the first digital download from an artist's website may go right to a torrenter, or youtube. Is self-distribution accompanied by the task of chasing youtube takedowns? Sounds not fun.
A pre-release payment directly addresses the issue of piracy. Piracy just doesn't exist if the content isn't out there.
No one is going to want to buy pre-releases of things they haven't experienced yet. We buy things we like and most people tend to be ambivalent about things they are ignorant of. When you democratize distribution as a side effect you end up with a saturated marked. If you went on youtube and had to find new things to watch, but were required to pick out things you think you would like based on a short preview and description, then wait days or weeks for it to release, I doubt you would visit it very often.
If we just accept the fact that piracy exists and that people are going to pirate and then ignore that aspect completely and carry on, I think you would be surprised how many people are willing to pay for things they want if the price is reasonable, regardless of whether they can get it for free via another method.
A pre-release payment directly addresses the issue of piracy. Piracy just doesn't exist if the content isn't out there.