Russians are increasingly choosing illegal channels to download movies, books, music, and games - the market for pirated services has grown by more than 100% in the last six years.
This is according to RBC, citing data from the InterMedia agency's report "The Economy of Culture in Russia." According to the material, data on the number of links to such resources, their traffic, and the average cost of advertising for their key advertisers were used to analyze the illegal content market. In recent years, the market volume has grown significantly: from 5.2 billion rubles to 12 billion rubles. The study covers six years, including the pre-pandemic years, when the world was not so immersed in online services of various kinds.
In 2018, the volume of the Russian market for illegal services was only 5.2 billion rubles, in 2019 - 5.4 billion rubles. 2020, when Russians, following the rest of the world, were locked in their homes and apartments by coronavirus restrictions, and spent a lot of time with laptops, computers and smartphones, gave pirates an increase of 11%, to 6 billion rubles.
In 2021, restrictions were eased, but "total remote work" remained, and users' habit of watching concerts and movies online seems to have strengthened. Illegal services increased turnover by 17%, to 7 billion rubles.
Over the next two years - 2022 and 2023 - this market grew by as much as 71.4% - from 7 billion rubles in 2021 and 10 billion rubles in 2022 to 12 billion rubles in 2023. The departure of major players such as the American streaming service for films and series Netflix or the Swedish service for audio and electronic books Storytel from the legal market in 2022 helped Russian pirates in this.
