Only 12 percent of European web users paid for online content last year.  That number is expected to reach 19 percent by 2013.  Paid content "could pull in €5 billion in 2013, from €1.4 billion" in 2007 if the predictions are correct.

"As overall online audiences for all content categories continue to grow, so the number of European users willing to pay for content online will grow at an even faster rate," a Jupiterreasearch report says, although free content will "continue to dominate" online consumption.

The online model for news is "already set--pay-for news is the preserve of business readers and digital edition afficiondos."  Only 1.1 percent of the total online market will be paid-for news content.

The music industry will set the tone, which the news industry may want to take into account.  Although music made up "only 29 percent of all Europe's paid content revenues last year, by 2013, a majority of paid content income (51 percent) will come from music." 

European "efforts to drive consumers to legal downloads" is predicted to put users paying for content in the majority, 63.7 million to 55 million illegal downloaders by 2013.  Paid-for content is currently outnumbered by 53 million to 6.9 million users.

Source:  Paidcontent.co.uk