Pirates take biggest share as 5m download internet music. (News).

The scale of music downloading in the UK has been highlighted by a new survey suggesting around 5m people are regularly accessing tracks via the internet.

The NOP study, which was commissioned by the BPI, BVA and Film Distributors Association (FDA), estimates that more than 1bn tracks are now downloaded annually within the UK, with the vast majority of them obtained illegally.

Nearly six out of 10 downloaders are turning to file-sharing services such as KaZaA to access their music online, adding up to about 2.5m UK users, according to the survey of 1,440 weekly internet users and 1,000 downloaders. Two-thirds of those downloading music are aged 15 to 35, are typically male and probably have at least a reasonable level of experience of the web, it adds.

The fact the consumers can access music for free is the biggest incentive to download, although the study also found evidence that some people liked to trial music first before going out to buy it. Downloading as a means of obtaining rare or difficult-to-obtain repertoire was also highlighted as a key driving factor.

Users download an average of 19 tracks per month, although this rises to 25 among those with high-speed connections. Individual tracks rather than entire albums are likely to be sourced and these are typically used to create compilations. The tracks accessed are also likely to be older material rather than recent releases.

Of the downloaders, 57% say they burn music onto CDs, adding up to around 2.5m people aged 15-plus in the UK burning a total of 126m CDs every year. The survey says that each of them is ...