Research by the University of Hertfordshire for industry body British Music Rights confirms what we suspected and paints a dire picture for those still trying to make money out of music…

SEE ALSO: Save The Date: Economics Of Digital Music Seminar: September 23, Natural History Museum

While the 773 14- to 24-year-olds surveyed love music more than previous generations, this attachment does not correlate with spending, the Music Experience And Behaviour in Young People study found. Indeed, of an average 1,700 tracks stored by the 90 percent in the age range who own MP3 players, 842 (almost half) have not been paid for. “Young people 14-17 have not paid for the majority of music in their collection.” It’s a culture of taking…

—95 percent of people copy music in some fashion, with 58 percent copying from a friend’s hard drive for example.
—63 percent download music from P2P networks and 42 percent have allowed others to take their own tracks via the same method, with most thinking they are doing a good deed.
—People download an average 53 illegal tracks per month via P2P, though some respondents said they bagged up to 5,000 tracks per month.
—Even so, 80 percent of P2P users say they would pay for a legal P2P offering - hard to believe, given current use of non-legal options and because 75 percent of respondents’ gave “because it’s free” as their motivation for illegal use.