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Despite spending an average of £10,000 on music in a lifetime, more than three quarters of the UK public think music is too expensive. As a consequence, illegal downloading continues to thrive.

Recent research carried out by music price comparison site CompareDownload of 3,000 Brits from across the country, will make grim reading for record labels and online music download stores such as ITunes.

According to the survey one in four men admitting that more than 50% of their music collection was made up of illegal downloads. And it appears that men are by far the biggest culprits when it comes to breaking the rules - more men (42%) admitted to downloading illegally than women (29%).

Cost was cited as the major reason for choosing pirate downloads over legal purchases with 74% of those questioned insisting that music is now too expensive. It is interesting to see that 63% would buy more music if costs were lower.

Perhaps costs are perceived as high compared to ‘free’ illegal downloads but are they high in relation to prices historically?

The argument would appear to be no. Before the arrival of music download sites, the only option was to buy an album in its entirety for the full price. Downloading meant you could pick and choose album tracks and pay only for those you liked after hearing a short sample. Buying three tracks of an album at say 79p (ITunes current price) would equate to ₤2.37 as opposed to ₤12 upwards for a CD. Of course most CDs have come down in price now in response to cheaper download costs and the same is true for DVDs following the arrival of on demand movies from cable/satellite providers such as Sky and Virgin.

Matt Dunkley, a music arranger and producer for TV and films, insists UK music lovers have never had it so good when it comes to the price of music. “I download a lot of music as it is a very quick way to access tracks immediately rather than having to go to a store which will cost you time and money (petrol/fares). You don’t have to buy a whole album, you just pay for the tracks you want. You can even shop around for the best priced legal download sites. I don’t think people are being over-charged, in comparison to what we have paid for music over the years we are actually getting a good deal.”

This view would appear to be borne out by the fact that the download market now has more providers than ever before with the likes of HMV, Amazon and even Tesco competing alongside pioneers in this field such as Apple Itunes and Napster. Competition has seen prices being squeezed with for instance Amazon offering album downloads from ₤3 – this is about the same price as you would have paid for an album back in the early 1980s!

Head of CompareDownload.com James Bott agreed with the argument that UK music lovers should shop around for the best deal rather than resorting to illegal downloading.: "The amount of money Brits will spend on music in a lifetime is extraordinary. In these tough financial times, and beyond, it is essential that music lovers realise the benefits of shopping around, rather than sticking to the same retailers, as there are huge savings to be made. The fact that Brits still feel music is too expensive, and 63% would be less likely to download illegally if they could find the music they want to buy at lower costs show there is real need for better consumer awareness of the best legal download prices out there. The average consumer could save money simply by checking the prices on our site – and hopefully we can encourage more Brits to move away from music piracy and into the legal download arena, meaning a brighter future for the British music industry."

Perhaps another way music lovers could reduce their bill is to be a little more discerning in what they purchase. In terms of buying music in general, the survey found that we are a wasteful bunch. The average male will amass a music collection of 292 albums and singles, with the average female owning 221. However we only listen to each album an average of 15 times and 5% of our collections will never be played!