MUMBAI: Reflecting a radical change in music consumption from physical to digital format, around 40 per cent music fans in Britain could not recall the last time they bought a CD, according to a study by music equipment manufacturer Audio-Technica.

The survey was conducted on 1000 music fans based on CD sales, free music downloads and the effects of music reviews on purchases of concert tickets.

Signalling the developments in digital consumption, more than 20 per cent of those surveyed had downloaded music within a week and nearly 49 per cent believed that it was acceptable to download music free of charge.

Audio-Technica UK senior marketing manager Harvey Roberts said, “The portable nature of today’s music and its accessibility has made downloading much more common. Clearly this has had an impact on artistes with touring and live shows becoming increasingly important in replacing revenue lost from declining album sales.”

According to the study, more than 60 per cent people said that they would read reviews before purchasing music or concert tickets and around half of the people believed comments and reviews influenced their decisions when purchasing music.

More than 50 per cent fans believed that a bad review would discourage them from buying music or tickets, while 32.7 per cent confirmed that they could write better than most professional music critics.

As part of its ‘Sounds of the Summer’ celebrations, Audio-Technica commissioned the study to investigate the effect of technology in the way UK consumes music and media.