Downloaders are willing to pay for easy accessible, legal content

Most internet users are willing to pay for downloading music, movies and television if there would be a cheap and legal service such as BitTorrent available. Thus is the main conclusion of an Australian survey conducted under more than 7000 downloaders of music, movies and TV shows.

It is equally or more important for downloaders that such a service is easy accessible, than the costs of downloading, say the researchers. Most respondents indicated using BitTorrent sites, not because they offer free content, but because of the convenience. Also more than two-thirds stated they would pay for downloads from a legitimate service that was just as convenient if it existed.

Equally interesting is the fact that the respondents also indicated how much they are willing to pay for the otherwise free downloaded content. Converted to euros, a large proportion of respondents were willing to pay 0.35 euro for music (48.9%), 1.40 euro for films (45.6%) and 0.70 euro for TV shows (39,3%) when offered by a legal music service.

The hypothetical legitimate service was described as giving users access to TV shows, movies and music they wanted, when they wanted them, without ads or copy protection.

7 May 2010