A study released Sunday, December 5, says the majority of most musicians and artists feel the Internet is good for business.

Arttists say they make more money from their work even though online file-trading services allow users to copy songs and other material for free. 

The recording industry has repeatedly blamed  "peer to peer" networks like Kazaa for the slump in music sales over the past couple of years.

But most of the artists surveyed by the nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project said online file sharing was not a concern.

Artists were split on the merits of peer-to-peer networks, with 47 percent saying that they prevent artists from earning royalties for their work and another 43 percent saying they helped promote and distribute their material.

But two-thirds of those surveyed said file sharing posed little threat to them, and less than one-third of those surveyed said file sharing was a major threat to creative industries.

Only 3 percent said the Internet hurt their ability to protect their creative works.

"What we hear from a wide spectrum of artists is that, despite the real challenges of protecting work online, the Internet has opened new ways for them to exercise their imaginations and sell their creations," said report author Mary Madden, a research specialist at the Pew Internet and American Life Project.