65% Pay For Digital Content Online

Happy New Year everyone. Let's hope that your 2011 will be better that 2010.

While it seems to be the popular perception that people are unwilling to pay for digital content, a recent study by the Pew Internet organization seems to contradict the notion. In fact, they found that 65% of people online have paid for some form of digital content or subscription.

The study discovered the following:

• 33% of internet users have paid for digital music online
• 33% have paid for software
• 21% have paid for apps for their cell phones or tablet computers
• 19% have paid for digital games
• 18% have paid for digital newspaper, magazine, or journal articles or reports
• 16% have paid for videos, movies, or TV shows
• 15% have paid for ringtones
• 12% have paid for digital photos
• 11% have paid for members-only premium content from a website that has other free material on it
• 10% have paid for e-books
• 7% have paid for podcasts
• 5% have paid for tools or materials to use in video or computer games
• 5% have paid for “cheats or codes” to help them in video games
• 5% have paid to access particular websites such as online dating sites or services
• 2% have paid for adult content

What's more, they found that those who purchased digital media paid between $1 and $10 per month, with some purchasing as high as $30 per month. The digital content that most people were willing to purchase online were (in order):

• Music
• Software
• Mobile apps
• Games

So while we may have a generation of internet users who expect content like music for free, there are still a lot more out there willing to pay for it. As with everything though, the content has to be really good and at the right price to be attractive.

Read an overview of the Pew research article here.

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