Editor's note: This article appeared in the January 13, 2011, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter.

The Internet is a mainstay of fun, free entertainment in American culture, but that doesn't mean users are inherently averse to shelling out a few greenbacks for must-have music, games and news. As it stands, well-educated, higher-income Internet users are likely to spend an average of $47 each month for intangible online goods, according to research from Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, Washington, D.C.

Nearly two-thirds of Internet users have paid to download or access some kind of online content from the Internet. Music, software and apps are the most popular content that Internet users have paid to access or download, although the range of paid online content is quite varied and widespread. Respondents were asked about 15 different kinds of online material that could be purchased or accessed after a payment. Thirty-three percent of Internet users have paid for digital music online; 33 percent have paid for software; 21 percent have paid for apps for their mobile phones or tablet computers; 19 percent have paid for digital games; 18 percent have paid for digital newspaper, magazine or journal articles or reports; 16 percent have paid for videos, movies or TV shows; 15 percent have paid for ringtones; 12 percent have paid for digital photos; 11 percent have paid for members-only premium content from a Web site that has other free material on it; 10 percent have paid for e-books; 7 percent have paid for podcasts; 5 percent have paid for tools or materials to use in video or computer games; 5 percent have paid for "cheats or codes" to help them in video games; 5 percent have paid to access particular Web sites such as online dating sites or services; and 2 percent have paid for adult content. Another 6 percent of Internet users said they had paid for another kind of content that had not been mentioned in the list of 15.

The average expense for those who have paid for content was approximately $47 per month for material they have downloaded or accessed, including both subscription (an average of $12 per month) and individual file access (an average of $22 per month). However, some extremely high-end users pull the average higher, with most purchasers spending about $10 per month. The majority of Internet users pay for subscription services (23 percent), versus downloading an individual file (16 percent) or accessing streaming content (8 percent), and most who have accessed online content have utilized only one method of access and payment (66 percent).

Similar percentages of men and women Internet users say they pay for online content, with the exception of software, for which online men are more likely to purchase than online women. There does not appear to be a racial divide among Internet users associated with accessing online content, with whites and non-whites equally as likely to have purchased most forms of online content.

Internet users between the ages of 30-49 are the most likely to have purchased most kinds of content, compared with those who are younger or older. Those who have college degrees or some college generally are more likely to purchase online content than Internet users with a high school or less than a high school education. There is also a correlation between income levels and paying for online content, with the Internet users who live in higher-income bracket households more likely to pay for various kinds of content than those who live in lower-income brackets.

Who won't pay for online content? In analyzing the 35 percent of Internet users who report not purchasing online content, a higher percentage of non-white Internet users do not purchase online content than Internet users who are white and a higher percentage of Internet users 50+ do not purchase online content relative to those in young age groups. Education and income are correlated with not purchasing online content, with those Internet users in the lower education and lower income brackets not purchasing online content in higher percentages than those with higher education attainment and higher incomes.