Let’s say an app came out that allowed pirating without consequences; that it connected every user to a fast, anonymous network, and users could donate anonymously to content creators and/or uploaders.
Piracy were so normal that even your grandma could just search “ahoy movie name”, be directed to a third party store, download and install the “Ahoy App” and start watching movies and TV shows like on Popcorn Time or listen to music like on Napster and Spotify. It reached mainstream popularity and had download numbers like WhatsApp or TikTok.
Is this something we would want? Would the entertainment industry survive?
Imo making piracy so easily available would likely create a massive free rider problem. Because ultimately, the people making media still need to get paid, and a lot of things are beyond the scope of “well, I hope donations cover it”, especially considering that this would effectively end major points of revenue like tv/streaming licensing and box office sales. You better like franchises that exist for selling merchandise a la pokemon, because that’s going to be the only thing that can reliably earn enough to stay afloat.
But what if the economy started to change and make up for the offset when piracy is common?
I directly mentioned that. The industry would lose all of its primary means of revenue, and that’s going to impact what does and doesn’t recieve funding and approval for production. Media would, even more than it currently does, lean towards things that create external revenue streams. Toys, merchandise, that kind of stuff. That, and like, kickstarter projects where people pay up front before the media is made.