Rising subscription costs and increasingly fragmented content on legal platforms are driving viewers back to digital piracy, according to recent data and industry observers. Unlicensed streaming visits surged to 216 billion in 2024, up from a low of 130 billion in 2020, with unlicensed streaming accounting for 96% of TV and film piracy in 2023, according to piracy monitoring firm MUSO.
Sweden, home to both Spotify and The Pirate Bay, exemplifies this trend. In 2024, 25% of Swedes surveyed admitted to pirating content, driven largely by those aged 15 to 24. A decade ago, the successful launch of Netflix in Sweden at 79 SEK (£6) per month, alongside the prosecution of The Pirate Bay founders, helped curb piracy. But now Netflix costs upwards of 199 SEK (£15) and content is scattered across multiple platforms, each with rising fees and ad-supported tiers.
The phenomenon has been described as the 'enshittification' of streaming, where services degrade in pursuit of profit. The average European household now spends close to €700 (£600) annually on three or more video-on-demand subscriptions. Regional restrictions and throttled bitrates add to the frustration. As one film critic noted, 'People pay more and get less.'
While some never stopped pirating, others have returned to unofficial streaming platforms or legal apps with community add-ons that channel illicit streams. One viewer commented, 'Downloading is too difficult. I don’t know where to start. The shady streams might bombard me with ads, but at least I don’t have to worry about getting hacked or caught.'
As Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve, observed in 2011, 'Piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue.' The current crisis in streaming makes this observation more relevant than ever.
