Digital Consumption, Between Piracy and Paid Content

Piracy continues to haunt creators in Indonesia. Although digital technology began to develop, the battle with pirates still continues today. Several platforms began to emerge with various solutions to overcome this. It doesn't waste energy fighting piracy, but it makes it easier for creators to be rewarded more appropriately.

The resolution of piracy cases in Indonesia is like a tangled thread that has no end. The latest case that has become a hot topic of discussion is the case of closing an illegal site streaming film. This incident divided the internet community into two camps, those who regretted it and those who responded positively. I'm personally pretty sure the site streaming Illegal films are one of the causes the blood platform continuity video on demand (legal) in Indonesia.

The internet developed in Indonesia along with the idea that everything on it is free, including photos, videos, images, text, and more. There are still many people who think that everything that is put on the internet is public property. In other words, it can be used by anyone and for anything.

Unfortunately, this wrong view is still believed by many people, even new internet users. This makes the task of educating about licensing and copyright even more difficult.

At the heart of the problem is the reluctance to pay for digital content. The barrier wall called payment system has begun to crumble thanks to the existence of electronic money platforms and integration with many systems. The problem of "lazy to the ATM for transfers" or "don't have a credit card" is slowly disappearing.

Finally we return to the classic "if anything is free" question what are you doing pay." Whereas in digital content there is the hard work of the creator of the work who must stay alive and support his family.

Karyakarsa founder Ario Tamat revealed that the tendency of people to hijack or be reluctant to pay for a work is due to a lack of understanding of the impact.

"In my opinion, awareness about copyright does not yet exist along with the perception of impact. For example, maybe most of us take it lightly.torrent sites a series that is not available in Indonesia, because it has no visible impact on content creators. In fact, 'Ah, Disney is already rich, it's your own fault not to release it in Indonesia' for example or 'nope papa Taylor Swift has a lot of money. The consequences for hijackers are not clear," said Ario.

Paying for digital content actually works if the context in question is gaming. Mobile Legends, PUBG Mobile, and other popular mobile games have become the first experience for many gamers to pay for their first item. Google Play's increasingly flexible form of payment makes gamers do not hesitate to exchange their money for diamonds or coins in the game.

Different approach

Currently, to reach users, most platforms adopt an approach freemium with the subscription concept. Users are offered a lot of free content, but some content is locked and can only be accessed if the user pays.

This strategy is quite widely used by various types of digital content. Not only a music or movie streaming platform, Subscribe This kind of content can also be found for comic content, photos, and others.

Basically, this method attracts the user's interest first with the existing content collection. Furthermore, when the engagement with the user is established, there will be special content or advanced content that is sold for a fee. If users enjoy the experience of using content for free, it's usually not that hard to convert them to paying users. On the other hand, if the experience presented is bad, they will run away.

The Storial.co platform, which provides fictional content in the form of digital books, has implemented this strategy. With a total of 50.000 book titles and 15.000 authors, Storial claims to attract millions of readers. Many of the fictional content in it has been published and even adapted in other forms, such as films and web series.

Storial CEO Steve Wirawan to DailySocial said that before this pandemic there were users they could read about 30 chapters per week. This number has doubled during the current pandemic. Free time is thought to be one of the reasons.

"In my opinion, most of the millennials in Indonesia bucin [slave/need love -Ed], surely many are watching Korean dramas during this pandemic. Likewise, fiction content that succeeds in making readers excited it is very popular with our users who are mostly women under 20 years old," said Steve.

According to Steve, the key to being able to get people to pay for digital content is in the content itself. As long as the content is close and user-friendly, the conversion rate from free readers to paid readers is quite high.

"Interesting content is the key. I guess as long as the content is commits with the reader, the characters in the story are strong and real which makes people able to recounts with themselves, the storyline that makes them excited and curious to know what happens next, it definitely makes them want to pay," continued Steve.

Ario added that there are at least two things that can be used to reduce or suppress the number of piracy of works. By utilizing technology or utilizing a new approach, direct support from the audience of the work to the creator of the work.

"The first is by creating entertainment technology whose IPR protection has become one, such as Spotify or Netflix whose content cannot be enjoyed outside of their respective applications. The second offers content with a business model that does not depend too much on protection, but on the participation of the audience of the work. , like KaryaKarsa," explained Ario.

Everyone can work, everyone deserves to be supported

A platform that bridges content creators with their audience will be the future for digital content creators and connoisseurs. The presence of this platform in addition to reducing the distance between idols and their fans, also removes bias, which are connoisseurs of works and who are connoisseurs of free content.

The sophistication of technology and software has given birth to many new forms of digital content derivatives. Not only books, movies and music but also streaming game, online sports training, webinar, stand up comedy, podcast, and various other forms. Although not a form of object, digital works deserves to be appreciated.

Payment methods are now getting cheaper. Access to digital content is even easier. There are many forms of bridging platforms, depending on what kind of content they are interested in, and the problem now lies in the consciousness of each. The most awaited are regulations and definite sanctions for any violations.