Advanced Television

Survey: Pirated content popular since file-sharing generation

April 17, 2026

Millennials who grew up in the heyday of file sharing are most likely to access music or video content illegally in the US today. But members of Gen Z are almost equally as likely to search out pirated content on the internet. This is the result of a survey by Statista Consumer Insights. Almost half of US respondents in both generations said as of early 2026 that they had accessed content for free that would technically require a subscription or purchase in the past three months.

When illegal downloads and file sharing gave way to illegal streaming over the years, priorities of piracy users also shifted. Music piracy became less popular as paid streaming services offer comprehensive libraries for relatively low monthly subscriptions fees, and YouTube also started to offer a huge library of songs. This doesn’t apply to video content in the same way as movies and series continue to be scattered across platforms or confined to pay-per-view models.

The advent of streaming has also led to a significant rise in live sports piracy, which is one of the biggest segments of online piracy today.

Pirating content might be more popular among younger people with fewer financial means, but older generations active in content streaming engage in it too. Among Gen X respondents, this share stood at 27 per cent, while only 17 perc ent of Baby Boomers reported illegal streaming or downloading.

The survey polled approximately 3,000 people aged 14 to 98 who had used video or music streaming in the three months prior to the survey. A total of 37 per cent of survey participants stated they had accessed paid content without paying.

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, Piracy, Research

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