A new report (link) from The Internet Foundation In Sweden has found that pirates are more likely to pay for content than non-filesharers. The report also finds that legal streaming services are successfully converting pirates to paying customers.
The report, titled "Swedes and the Internet", found that only 18 percent of respondents now admit they engage in illegal file sharing, a figure that has been falling since 2011 and at its lowest in a decade.
That is not to say Swedes don't enjoy viewing content online. 70% of Internet users in the country say they watch video content online, up from 52% only a year ago. 40% of these same users also say they pay for content, incredibly up from only 14% only a year ago.
The dramatic increase can very likely be attributed to the increasing popularity of Netflix, which is now used by 28% of the Swedish population.
A similar trend can be observed in regards to music, with 77% using the Internet to enjoy music, and 54% of these users paying to do so. As a comparison, only 15% of Internet music listeners paid for music in 2011. And just like with online videos, one major player, in this case Spotify, was largely responsible for this shift in user behavior.
And most interestingly, the data from The Internet Foundation once again confirms that pirates are generally more active music/movie/TV fans, and therefore more likely to pay for content. 46% of video filesharers (58% for music) pay for content, compared to only 24% of non-filesharers (39% for music).
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