The increase in the number of streaming services, the fragmentation of content and the increase in monthly fees drive users to pirate sites.
The popularity of piracy is growing. Adobe Stock
Research by Muso, a British analytics company specializing in anti-piracy, reveals that pirate websites are increasing in popularity.
Last year, piracy websites were visited 141 billion times, which, according to Muso, is 12 percent more than in 2019. Relative to the population, the most visits are made in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. In India, piracy increased by 80 percent in 2022-2023 alone.
Founder and CEO of Muso Andy Chatterley says one reason lies in the growth of the number of streaming services, which has been remarkable especially in the last five years.
– As a result, piracy has correspondingly increased, Chatterley states.
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Instead of having a few different streaming services where media companies publish their content, the companies in question have increasingly launched their own platforms. This has resulted in the content, such as films and series, being spread over many different platforms.
The situation is not made easier by the fact that the monthly fees of the platforms are on the rise, some show ads even to their paying users, and the sharing of passwords between households has been made more difficult.
In studies it has been found that viewers of pirated content are even more willing to pay for streaming services than the average consumer, as long as the offer, user experience and price are in order. Movies and series that are not available on traditional streaming services are often watched on pirated services.
If even every fourth viewer of pirated content could be attracted to become a customer of streaming services, it would mean, according to Muso’s estimate, a stimulus injection of up to 24 billion dollars to the entire market.
Sources: Fast Company, Vice