A new survey from The Leading Question research firm has revealed that more young people are purchasing music downloads rather than procuring them from illegal sites. For the first time 19 percent of music fans are purchasing music legally compared to the 17 percent that download it from illegal file sharing sites. The study was conducted in January this year, as reported by The Guardian.

The study surveyed 1,000 teenagers and also found that many of them favored streaming music from sites such as YouTube or online radios rather than owning it. In the new survey only 26 percent of 14- to 18-year-olds admitted to sharing a file illegally, down from 42 percent in December 2007, a significant drop in just one year.

Streaming music is also becoming a favorite alternative with as much as 65 percent of teenagers using streaming services on a regular basis especially those 14 to 18 years old, with 35 percent of them doing it every day compared to 18 percent overall. However, the drop in filesharing may not necessarily mean that teenagers are acquiring their music legally as many turn to Bluetooth or other means of copying music directly from their friends.

The fact that, when given choices, users will opt for legal means of acquiring their music should really be a wake-up call for the music industry, which is still very conspicuous about alternative online services like Internet radio and streaming in general. Still the tides may be turning as just recently music industry representatives and online radios have reached a licensing agreement that could allow this type of businesses to actually make a living from streaming music online while also providing the labels with an alternative income source as CD sales continue to drop and digital sales haven't yet made up for the lost customers.