Half of the UK's youth pay to download music

At least, half of those surveyed do

16 February 2007 11:06 GMT / By Amber Maitland

More than half of the young people in the UK pay to download music, according to a new survey.

The research done by Q Research didn't question every young person in the UK, but took a sample of around 1500 people aged 11 to 25.

The survey showed that 85% of respondents own an MP3 player, with the iPod being the most popular.

Some 45% of respondents don't spend money on music downloads, but about a third spend up to £5 a month.

Only 3% spend more than £25 or more a month on downloads, and most of these are 20-24-year-olds.

In the older age range, two-thirds spend up to £10 a month on downloads, and just over 15% spend between £10 and £20 a month.

The survey also gauged young people's interest in music on their mobiles, a feature that has almost become standard.

Eighty-one per cent of the boys surveyed wanted to listen to music on their mobiles, while only 72% of girls did.

Of those who do download music to a portable device, more than four out of five download music first to their PC and then transfer it to their device; only 3% download direct to their mobile from the Internet because of high data charges.