Vuze, maker of one of the most popular BitTorrent clients (formerly named Azureus), hoped to dispel the myth that peer-to-peer users are poor, freeloading, antisocial misfits, so it commissioned a survey into the demographic makeup of Vuze users. What it found was that Vuze users are in fact freeloaders when it comes to buying digital content online—shocking, we know—but that they are actually "Hollywood's best customers" when it comes to spending money offline.

Frank Magid Associates conducted the survey, looking at 693 American Vuze users and 606 American Internet users, all aged 18-44. The most surprising result was that, when surveyed about their moviegoing behavior, Vuze users bought far more movie tickets, rented more films, and bought more DVDs than did the general Internet population.

In a typical year, Vuze users attended eight films in the theater; a typical Internet user went to six. Vuze users rented nine movies a year; non-P2P users rented seven. And Vuze users—who clearly know about P2P and have no problem putting it to use—actually purchase 16 DVDs a year. Typical Internet users buy only 13.

Data source: Frank Magid Associates

I spoke with Vuze CEO Gilles BianRosa about the results. His take is that P2P users are "Hollywood's best customers, and that's clearly something that we don't think that Hollywood is very aware of."

When I note that the study doesn't include online content, a huge potential source of revenue as DVDs continue to decline, BianRosa admits that P2P users just don't buy much online content. He doesn't need a study to know it, either. But the real problem "might not be piracy," he says.

Build it (right) and they will come

The survey shows that BitTorrenteers aren't averse to spending their money on content. What might make them value something like DVDs when they can grab online copies free of charge? BianRosa says it's clearly about the value proposition; films are typically encumbered with DRM, are difficult to move between screens, and are priced too high.

DVDs, despite their own use of DRM, provide users with much greater control over content. When online offerings are priced just as high, come with more restrictions and less box art and extras, they don't look like a good deal.

DRM is "not effective at curbing piracy," says BianRosa. Once one copy is out, that's it, and DRM therefore has the "perverse effect" of bothering the legal users more than the illegal ones.

The music industry (perhaps too late) has realized its similar mistake. It has given up on most DRM, is working with music startups like Spotify, licenses far more widely (see eMusic's new deal with Sony), and is generally becoming "more reasonable" about conditions.

Hollywood, though, hasn't been quick enough to learn the lessons of the music business, says BianRosa; there's still a "lack of experimentation" around movie offerings, with sites like Hulu serving as notable exceptions.

With P2P customers ready to spend their money on movies, BianRosa argues that studios should tone down the focus on piracy and start tinkering with their offerings until they hit on models that work as well online as DVDs have worked offline.

Listing image by Wikimedia Commons