PayPal Stories Archive

There is no better example of the world going “digital” than the transformation of the music and movie/TV industry. Gone are the days of CDs and bye bye DVDs. The entertainment industry, has taken notice: for the first time in history, we’re seeing digital only TV series and streaming only songs/albums allowed to be nominated for Emmys and Grammys. Digital goods, including “digital media” (TV shows/movies and music), and mobile devices are transforming the way people search/find, purchase and consume entertainment worldwide. Our merchants selling digital items, and their customers, are embracing going “digital”– so we decided to dig a little deeper on what is driving digital demand.

 

In part two of our Digital Goods Economy Survey, PayPal took a closer look at the biggest trends and consumer habits shaping our movie, TV shows and music digital goods economy. We partnered with SuperData to collect insights and data from 10,000 consumers in 10 markets, including: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Spain, UAE, UK, and the U.S.

 

Here are some key takeaways:

 

Consumers actively seek out the most convenient way to purchase and consume digital media. In fact, more than a third of the people polled in the U.S. stated that they digitally purchase or download a movie or TV series “immediately” after becoming interested in it for the first time. Mobile devices (tablets and smartphones) and PC laptops were the clear viewing platforms of choice worldwide for TV shows/movies. In the U.S., the smartphone was the most popular viewing platform for TV shows/movies (58 percent). For music, an average of 85 percent of consumers in all 10 markets used smartphones for listening to music (downloaded or through a streaming subscription).

 

For merchants in the digital media business, ensuring your mobile platform is user friendly and offers a simple and convenient path to purchase is essential to cross-border trade success. Our data highlights that a “faster and easier” payment method would encourage a consumer to switch from their current payment approach for digital media. One simple way to achieve this is with PayPal One Touch™, which lets customers pay with their PayPal account from your site without requiring them to enter credit cards or other additional information from their mobile phone. Security was a close second for reasons why consumers would use an alternative payment method.

 

While owning a physical album, CD or DVD has lost its appeal, consumers still want access to the content they love. When streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Netflix, or YouTube are available in a country, consumers are willing to not only pay for a streaming service, but will also spend additional money on digital media downloads. In the UK, listeners spend an average of $15 a month on music streaming, with consumers in Italy, Germany, Spain, France, U.S., Russia, and UAE all spending more than $10 a month on music streaming services.   

 

As we’ve found for all digital goods purchases, payment preference matters, specifically when using a mobile device. When paying for digital media, nearly four out of every five consumers in the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Japan, Poland, and Russia; and three out of every four consumers in the U.S., Germany and UAE, select their payment method based on its “ease of use.”

 

While some consumers polled across the globe confess to illegally downloading digital media, we found they would be less likely to pirate or download digital content if they had easier access to new and rare TV series/movies and songs/albums. At least half of those who pirate music in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Japan, and UAE, said they would pay to download from a legitimate marketplace versus an illegal site if it was easier to access the songs or albums. More than 40 percent of TV/movie consumers responded similarly that they would pirate fewer TV series/movies if they were easier to access.

 

As streaming services, such as Apple Music, Google Play, Netflix, and YouTube continue to expand their global reach, there is an opportunity for merchants to provide access to new, trending, rare versions or entire albums/series of TV/movie and music to consumers.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about our Digital Goods research in the TV/movies and music industries, you can check out the full survey of U.S. results here.