Internet Users won’t Pay for Content

In a recent study commissioned by the European Union suspicions have been confirmed that internet users don’t want to pay for content.

It would seem, contrary to what industry executives have been saying that consumers’ behavior has nothing to do with peer-to-peer technology (P2P). The report shows that many people claim they would not pay for online content even if all other free options were taken away.

This finding has dramatic implications for the future of business, and not just in the entertainment industry, if people won’t pay for content how will businesses survive?

It’s clear that new business models are needed when it comes to online content but no one really seems to know what these new models will look like, or how they will work.

The European Commission’s Digital Competitiveness Report is a comprehensive annual resource which looks at everything from broadband saturation to the use of social networks. One of the chapters in the latest report deals specifically with online entertainment.

In this chapter, EU study reveals facts such as; “less than 5% of Europeans have paid for online content in the last three months”. But one of the most interesting results from the report are not the details about who pays but who doesn’t, only around 20% of online users would pay for online content if all other free options suddenly disappeared.

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