Pirating music via mobile devices has become more popular than downloading copyrighted material through traditional online piracy routes such as torrents and cyber lockers.

That’s according to a new study from market research firm NPD. Speaking to TorrentFreak, the firm’s senior vice president of industry analysis Russ Crupnick said that piracy via smartphone apps has surpassed P2P file-sharing and direct downloads.

“In terms of the number of internet users doing a variety of music sharing activities, downloading from mobile ...