Many UK kids are keeping to the straight and narrow when downloading music.

Over half pay for music downloads, according to a new study by Q Research. Although 45% pay nothing, almost a third spend up to £5 a month and 3% spend £25 or more a month.

Younger respondents were the heaviest users of free downloads, but plenty of young people are paying for their music: 42% of the respondents paid up to £10 a month, and 9% pay as much as £10-£25 every month.

The majority of those surveyed listen to music on their MP3 players or on their PCs. Some 85% of the respondents already own an MP3 player, with the iPod being by far the most popular device.

Liz Nelson of Q Research said that young mobile music users are especially cost-sensitive.

"This survey shows that whilst there is already a very buoyant market for paying for MP3 files from the Internet amongst young people, they are very aware of the cost of downloading files to their phones."