Music-capable cellphones are helping to fuel the consumption of digital music as a whole, suggests a study from the research firm M:Metrics. The company now says that "sideloading" of music -- copying it from an existing device to a phone -- represents 83 percent of mobile music use in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Unfortunately for cellular companies and other digital music vendors however, most users are not downloading tracks from them, but instead tapping into shared music -- the market exceptions being Spain and the US.

No reasons for the demographics have been given, but for many people cellphones may be the most affordable means of listening to music, combining a luxury with what can be a necessary communications tool. Some more expensive phones, such as Apple's iPhone, also make a point of offering more elaborate music support, in the form of special controls and/or player software. [via RCR Wireless News]