British Music Rights is pleased to present the results of its survey investigating the music consumption behaviour and experience of young people aged 14-24. The average age of respondents was 22.

Carried out in February and March 2008 by the University Of Hertfordshire, the result is the largest UK academic survey of its kind.

Headline messages:

• 14-24 year olds love music – arguably more than any previous generation
• But their consumption of music is changing significantly – the perceived value of sharing, recommendation and copying have all increased
• The upshot? Emotional importance does not correlate with spending – especially compared to other entertainment sectors
• Around 90% of respondents now own an MP3 player. They contain an average of 1770 tracks - half of which have not been paid for.
• 58% have copied music from a friend’s hard drive to their own, and 95% copy music in some way
• 63% download music using P2P file-sharing networks. 42% have allowed P2P users to upload music from their computer. Much of this behaviour is viewed as altruistic
• 80% of current P2P users would be interested in a legal file-sharing service – and they would pay for it too.
• The CD is not dead. Even if a legal file-sharing service existed, over 60% say they would continue to buy CDs.
• Money spent on live music exceeds that spent on recorded music

Feargal Sharkey, Chief Executive of British Music Rights: “The music industry should draw great optimism from this groundbreaking survey. First and foremost, it is quite clear that this young and tech-savvy demographic is as crazy about and engaged with music as any previous generation. Contrary to popular belief, they are also prepared to pay for it too. But only if offered the services they want. That message comes through loud and clear.

“These responses also pull no punches in highlighting how dramatically music consumption has changed, and continues to change; certainly in the case of copying, sharing and recommendation.

“Technology has greatly increased the value of these activities – but it is clear that the financial gains are not necessarily feeding back to the creators: artists, composers and songwriters. How the music industry repositions itself here, and builds new mutually-beneficial commercial partnerships with technology providers remains the key challenge ahead.” 

David Bahanovich, Head of Music and Entertainment Industry Management Programme, University of Hertfordshire: “As we witness the seismic changes to the music industry’s landscape, timely and targeted research is not only welcome, but is of critical importance. Our recent collaboration with BMR has proven very fruitful and our findings will be of great interest to both industry and government. We are committed to helping the industry find solutions through groundbreaking research, and this is only the first of a series of projects with BMR addressing some of the key issues confronting our industry during this unprecedented time of change.”

Download full survey.

ENDS

Readers are welcome to use the data in this report, but must acknowledge the 2008 survey into the Music Experience and Behaviour in Young People from British Music Rights and the University of Hertfordshire as the source.

For further information, please contact Adam Webb on 020 7306 4447 or 07908 811223 or email adam.webb@bmr.org.
 
www.bmr.org

Notes to Editors:

• British Music Rights was established to promote greater awareness of the interests and concerns of British music composers, songwriters and publishers to UK and EU policymakers and the wider public. The primary focus is to communicate an understanding of the rights and rewards for creativity in the music business; the value of those rights to UK plc; the impact of new technologies upon music creators and publishers and the resulting policy and legislative implications.
• Our member organisations are the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, the Music Publishers Association, the Performing Right Society and the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society.