SONGPEOPLE.CO.UK LISTEN. RATE. WIN

A new survey not only tallies up the number of albums owned by the average British citizen, but suggests that men purchase a great deal more albums than women. NME reports that the average among music-owning man in the UK has 292 albums, whereas the average UK woman has 221 albums.

3,000 Brits were surveyed about their music consumption by Comparedownload.com, which found that men generally spent more money on music than their female counterpart. During a lifetime, the average male spends £12, 480 on music, and it is estimated that a woman will spend £9,120.

Men also download music illegally more often than women, with 42 per cent of men admitting to the activity over 29 per cent of women who said they do the same. About 25 per cent of the men questioned said that illegal downloads made up more than half of their music collections.

The survey comes even as music fans, musicians and the government battle over what should be done with illegal downloaders. Lord Peter Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has called for a “last resort” that would temporarily disconnect frequent abusers from the internet.

The Featured Artists Coalition – including such members as Blur’s Dave Rowntree and Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien – are against such measures, asking instead for a policy that would allow offenders “three strikes” followed by weakened internet connections.