The lack of blockbusters affected the way people consumed pirated content during the Covid pandemic

By Emmanuel Legrand

Piracy consumption has changed during the pandemic, with a switch from blockbusters to older movies, with lower volumes consumed, according to a white paper titled 'Hidden Treasure: How Piracy Data Can Be a Moneyball Goldmine', published by piracy tracking company MUSO.

  “When we compare film streaming and torrent data in August 2019 to August 2020 we see a marked difference between the kind of titles and volumes of titles being consumed,” wrote MUSO CEO and Co-Founder Andy Chatterley. “Pre-pandemic, the top ten most film pirated titles were almost entirely comprised of blockbusters, however in the last few months, illegal streams and torrents are reflecting the dearth of new big budget releases in theatres.”

  MUSO data shows that the most pirated film title on August 2019 was 'Avengers:Endgame', which was downloaded over 7 million times via torrents and had over 11 million visits to unlicensed streaming pages offering that title. In contrast, the most in-demand illegally streamed title in August 2020, Netflix's 'Project Power', had only 1.9 million visits to streaming pages offering it.

Unlicensed behaviours

  “The wholesale absence of new blockbusters is resulting in trends reflecting the nuances and richness of piracy data," wrote Chatterley. “Unlicensed streaming audiences appear to closely mirror licensed behaviours, insofar as titles that are only available to stream legally also appear to be heavily in demand in unlicensed streaming sites.”

  Analysing torrent data, MUSO identified that there was not a single new release in the top 10 most torrented titles for August 2020. Instead, the list was entirely made up of blockbusters from 2019 like 'The Joker', 'Gemini Man' and 'It Chapter Two', with 'The Joker' consistently averaging over 60K downloads a day, 10 months after it first leaked, with over 30 million downloads in total to date via torrents and 41m visits via unlicensed streaming sites.

A 'Moneyball' goldmine

  “This indicates that pirates who torrent and pirates who stream are not necessarily one and the same,” according to Chatterley. “When we analyse the demographic profile, the one-click access and the nature of unlicensed streaming appeals to both males and females in relatively equal measure (55% and 45% respectively). The torrent audience is male-oriented (70%) and the prominence of blockbuster titles may point towards a preference for ownership vs on-demand for this demographic.”

  Concluded Chatterley: “No-one really knows what will come next for the entertainment industry and how long or hard the pandemic will continue to bite but in the absence of global theatrical data, piracy data is a ‘Moneyball’ goldmine.”