According to the largest academic survey of young people's music habits ever conducted, MP3 players belonging to teenagers and students contain an average of 1770 tracks - half of which have not been paid for.
The results also showed that 63% of the 14-24 year old respondents use peer-to-peer file-sharing networks to download music while 42% upload their own.
It's not all doom and gloom for music sales, though - 80% of illegal downloaders would be willing to pay for an unlimited legal service and 60% would still buy CDs. In fact, only 3% do not own any CDs… although 14% of the average CD collection had been ripped or burnt, ahem.
Other points of interest show 60% of music budget is spent on live rather than recorded music (mostly gigs and merchandise), young people believe songwriters, musicians and performers should be the beneficiaries of a proposed music license and more than a third of people who play a musical instrument have uploaded their own recordings to a social network. It's quite surprising to see that a small number who do not play any musical instruments still manage to upload their own recorded music - vocal harmony groups perhaps?
The Music Experience And Behaviour In Young People survey was conducted by British Music Rights (BMR). You can download the full 41-page report here.
