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The study of 14-24 year-olds found that the average person had 1,770 tracks on their MP3 player, but only half of those had been legitimately paid for.

More than half owned up to copying music from a friend's hard drive, while 95% admitted they had copied music in one form or another.

More than six out of ten of the respondents of the University of Hertfordshire survey said they had downloaded music from P2P file-sharing sites, although only 42% had allowed music to be uploaded from their PC. File sharers viewed their behaviour as "altruistic" according to the survey, although it's more likely that <

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lawyers will come knocking at their door demanding £600, rather than the team from Esther Rantzen's Hearts of Gold, if past form is anything to go by.

However, British Music Rights chief executive, Feargal Sharkey, says the onus is on the record labels, not the users, to change their behaviour.

"The music industry should draw great optimism from this groundbreaking survey," he says. "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," he claims, with the survey claiming 80% of people would be prepared to pay for a legitimate P2P service.

"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," Sharkey concludes.