According to a recent US study, Internet use in the USA has changed somewhat recently to mean that users are making much more of MP3 downloads and podcasts.

The research, conducted by Pew Internet and American Life Project, has found that 19% of US based users of the Internet have made use of music downloads, or podcasts, in order to listen to them later.

This shows an incredible increase, as the same study in August 2006 revealed that only 12% of US Internet users had downloaded podcasts, which was more than February and April of the same year, where just 7% had accessed podcasts.

According to the study, males are more likely than women to access music downloads. 22% of men admitted to downloading MP3 downloads, whereas just 16% of females said the same.

Age also seemed to be a factor, as net users under the age of fifty were more likely to access music downloads than users over the age of fifty.

Finally Internet speed was also important, as users with broadband access were far more likely to have downloaded MP3 files than other Internet users.