Illegal downloading of music, movies and television shows seems to be on a steady decline, according to a Norwegian study by Ipsos MMI.

The study found that songs are being pirated in Norway at just 17.5% of the rate that they were four years ago, while movie downloads are down 60 million and TV show downloads have decreased by 80 million in the same amount of time (which is roughly a 50% decline). But what’s most interesting is that the study doesn’t credit this decline to new  Norwegian policies aimed at stopping piracy; rather, Ipsos MMI is saying it i thanks to services like Netflix and Spotify.

Almost half (47%) of the respondents told Ipsos MMI that they used a service like Spotify to listen to music, and over half of those people actually pay for the premium option. Ipsos MMI doesn’t provide similar statistics for Netflix but does credit movie/TV show streaming services like Netflix.

“When you have a good legitimate offer, the people will use it,” said Olav Torvund, a former law professor at the University of Oslo. “There is no excuse for illegal copying, but when you get an offer that does not cost too much and is easy to use, it is less interesting to download illegally.”

Someone tell that to the entertainment industry.

[via The Telegraph]