I don't think that applies solely to musicians. Any profession can encounter an ethical dilema on the road to success. Sometimes there's a fine line between working smart and being shady.

Sad reality is, you need to be aggressive, determined and even sneaky at times, else you won't go too far. I don't lose sleep over that, rather I equate it to natural phenomenom. "If I don't eat them, they'll eat me". That's not very utopian, but's it's not something to be ashamed of either.

my $0.02