Almost half of British music fans think that it's acceptable to download music for free

"Music equipment manufacturer Audio-Technica has conducted a national study into Britain’s music purchasing habits. A total of 1,000 music fans were asked about when they last bought a CD, what they thought of downloading free music and what effect music reviews had on purchases of concert tickets.
Audio-Technica - celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2012 - commissioned the study to investigate the effect technology is having on the way the UK consumes music and media, and to raise awareness of its “Music Reviewer Of 2012” competition.
40% of those surveyed couldn’t remember when they last purchased a CD, while in contrast more than 20% had downloaded music in the last week.
Nearly half (49%) believed that it was acceptable to download music free of charge.
Audio-Technica senior UK 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 artists, with touring and live shows becoming increasingly important in replacing revenue lost from declining album sales. We’re currently in the middle of the festival season and it’s encouraging to see the level of interest in experiencing British and international talent live on stage.”"

Source:  Music Week, 13th July 2012

Note - Treat the headline stat with caution as it depends entirely on how the question is worded.  For example I think it's totally acceptable to download music for free from sites like Chicago Mixtape, because they offer legal, free downloads from unsigned bands, who have sanctioned it.  But I don't think it's acceptable to download the new Killers album for free, because the band have not sanctioned it.  It depends entirely on how the question was worded.  Although I accept that most people's definition of free downloading would be the Killers example.