The Olswang Convergence Consumer Study 2008 was released today. It has some great insights into the downloading, purchasing and listening behaviors of British consumers. The survey reached 1,162 respondents -- 235 between the ages of 13 and 15, and 927 adults. Download the 55-page report (PDF) here. The music section starts on page 29 of the PDF document.

Respondents most frequently listen to AM/FM radio (62%) and CDs (54%) at least once a week. The third most frequent way to listen to music was listening to tracks ripped from a CD to a PC (44%). Listening to downloaded music and streaming music came in at 28% and 26%, respectively. A majority of two groups -- classified by Olswang as "tech laggards" and "kids" -- listen to CDs on a CD player at least once a week. A majority of both groups also listen to tracks ripped from CDs at least once a week.

Only 22% of the "laggards" listen to digital music on a portable device (that number is 81% for kids). The main reason given in focus groups was plain ol' disinterest. Laggards tend to listen to radio much more than other groups. For some in the kids group, YouTube has replaced radio as a form of discovery.

For all that music listening, only 14% of respondents said they purchase downloads once a week (and 10% said they download from illegal sites once a week). While record labels may shudder at knowing 10% believe the statement "Stream/download music illegally" best represents them, 39% chose "Don't obtain illegal online content -- it's wrong" while 36% chose getting caught or poor quality as reasons for not downloading or streaming from illegal sites.