Profiling The Paid Content Consumer Music Still Leads In A Niche But Growing Sector

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The 20,000 Foot View

Paid content used to be one of the web’s backwaters. Change, however, is afoot, thanks to innovations such as app stores, tablets and media streamers.  Music, video, games and books all compete for attention and wallet share on consumers’ connected devices.  Now, with an ever-growing number of consumers willing to pay for downloads and subscriptions, the paid content marketplace is finally achieving meaningful scale.

Key Findings

       of consumers pay for some form of digital content
• The US has the highest rate of paid content penetration at       
• Music downloads are the most widely purchased content type with        penetration
• Music subscriptions are still outpaced by downloads, but video subscriptions have already overtaken video downloads
• Mobile reinvented the games’ market, with games accounting for        of the top grossing mobile apps globally
• Mobile apps have the youngest paid audience, while eBooks have the oldest

Companies mentioned in this report:  Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google, Deezer, Rhapsody, Hulu, Hachette, Scribd, Oyster, Facebook, Roku, Pandora