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Only the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industry re-invests a greater proportion of its revenues (39.6 per cent) than the record industry's 17 per cent.

'We have long pointed out that record companies are the biggest investors in new music in the UK,' said BPI chairman Peter Jamieson. 'This new data shows that

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in comparative terms the recorded music sector stacks up well against British industry as a whole and, surprisingly, against some of the most R&D intensive hi-tech sectors.'

The figures will be submitted to the Gowers Review of the copyright laws. The BPI has long-insisted that p2p music file sharing would adversely affect its levels of investment in new music. Now it is also claiming that the current copyright laws also jeopardise that investment.

It is calling for the copyright on recorded works to be extended beyond 50 years, a campaign that recently received the backing of Cliff Richard, whose early recordings will soon pass into the public domain unless the law is changed.

The BPI wants artists to be afforded the same protection as songwriters, who retain copyright for 70 years after their deaths.

'Key to maintaining...investment is a strong copyright regime,' Jamieson said.