A study by XTN Data has found that while 25% of those who regularly download music use peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing to get their tunes, that number drops to 7% when looking only at iPod owners. However, Chris Marlowe, reporting on the study for the Hollywood Reporter, quoted XTN founder Greig Harper as cautioning against drawing the conclusion that iPod owners are necessarily more honest.

"It may be that the iPod has a more mainstream audience beyond the gadget fans, which means they're less aware of or have less desire to use file-sharing software," he told Mr. Marlowe. "Your aunt who got an iPod doesn't know how to download, and even if she did, would she be likely to try it?"

XTN also discovered that 50% of iPod owners use the iTunes Music Store on a regular basis and purchase an average of 2.26 CDs each month, more than the 1.8 average for others included in the survey. Among overall survey respondents, 40% said that legal music download services are too complicated, and 32% admitted giving up halfway through the purchasing process because it was too hard.

Looking at lifestyle trends, XTN found that 29% of iPod owners often buy used CDs on eBay, 79% of them listen to music on the radio and 43% of them play games on a PlayStation and/or Xbox.