39% of Americans Don’t Care That Piracy Hurts Content Creators…

Despite the entertainment industry’s best efforts, most consumers just don’t really care about piracy problems.

Piracy costs artists and content creators millions of dollars in revenue. Yet, a new study shows that although most consumers know content piracy is illegal, some just don’t really care.

In a new survey commissioned by digital security platform firm Irdeto, 74% of U.S. consumers acknowledged that producing and sharing video content is illegal. 69% said that streaming and downloading pirated content is illegal. However, 32% of respondents admitted to watching pirated content. Yet, when confronted with the fact that studios lose out money, 39% said it had no effect on their piracy habits. Furthermore, only 19% of respondents said that the financial damage would stop them from watching pirated content.

Speaking about the study, Lawrence Low, Irdeto’s VP of business development, said that Hollywood must continue to “educate consumers about piracy.”

Piracy isn’t only a problem that affects the movie and TV industry. The music industry claims to lose millions of dollars each year due to piracy. While the findings aren’t good for either industry, the study underscored the need to promote services for legal content. In a statement, Low said,

“The negative impact that piracy has on the content creation industry extends much further than lost revenue. Piracy deters content creators from investing in new content, impacting the creative process and providing consumers with less choice. It is becoming increasingly important for operators and movie studios to educate consumers on the tactics employed by pirates and to further promote innovative offerings that allow consumers to legally acquire content.”

The survey also found that 24% of respondents who pirate content prefer to watch TV series. In addition, another 24% expressed interest in watching pirated movies currently in theaters. 18% of consumers wanted to pirate movies on DVD and Blu-ray discs. Another 10% wanted to watch pirated live sports transmissions. Only 9% wanted to pirate original content from distributors like Netflix, Hulu, and Apple’s iTunes.

YouGov conducted the online survey of 1,190 U.S. adults 18 and older from Dec. 29, 2016 through January 3. Although only 39% of U.S. consumers admitted to pirating content, the number may actually be much higher.

​Source: DigitalMusicNews.com

I can't speak for others, but I can tell you that I've purchased more music than ever based on the Music Discovery aspect of Music Trackers. There is a part of this that the music industry should strive to understand. Thanks @fiorentini for the post.