That is a very selective truth.

In the x86 days p2p filesharing applications unambiguously proved that people preferred a decentralized web, not only were they getting their music for free, they discovered new and hardly known niche artists in genre's they liked (some of the p2p software allowed checking out other music from the same seeder).

What really happens is the transition to ARM platforms (tablets, smartphones) with TrustZone technology, and the resulting lack of FOSS Operating Systems & Software being installed by the user, and a lack of development because average user can't install it either.

Perhaps one could argue that at world population scale people couldn't afford both an x86 system AND a smartphone, and preferred the latter, at the cost of user freedom.