New figures released have showed that though the government and music industry are trying high profile attempts at getting people to stop illegally downloading, most of teenagers still download illegal tracks. The research by the University of Hertfordshire showed that most young people aged between 14 and 24 had at least 8,000 illegal songs on their computer and were not put off from swapping and downloading new music.

61per cent of the 1,808 individuals asked said that they continued to use software allowing file to file, or internet downloads of music without paying, whilst 78per cent of the questioned group said that they would not pay for a streamed service such as Spotify. At 89per cent most individuals said that owning the music was far more important than listening to it on a live feed.

After recent months where a large amount of pressure has been put upon the download of illegal music, the results were disappointing. Chief executive of UK Music Feargal Sharkey said “Over the past twelve months, the licensed digital music market has diversified enormously — epitomised by competition in the download market and the traction being gained by streaming services. Clearly, the shape of our entire business will continue to evolve. However, we will achieve nothing if we do not work with music fans, and young music fans in particular. They are hugely demanding in their needs, but collectively we must rise to that challenge.”

However, there were some positive signs in the report. Of the questioned individuals, 85per cent said that if an unlimited download service were available they would pay. In addition nearly 75per cent said that even if they downloaded music, they still preferred to buy their favourite artists CD’s.