NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens have made their mark onto our digital world as it offers individuals ownership of digital assets, which means you can be the proud of your very own Bored Ape – Yes, you can now have bragging rights of owning a PNG, JPEG, or whatever. It’s legit I swear!
However, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows especially with websites like HitPiece – Yeah, we see you there! If you take a look at Twitter, artists are flagging this website for the unauthorized listing of their music as NFTs. This website claims to sell these one-of-one NFTs, which means each piece is unique.
Would you look at that! You can now own The Lion King’s Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Hey Disney, are you aware of this?!
Now according to a lot of these artists, the website HitPiece does not actually have the authority to do any of this — Yikes. Other high-profile artists such as Ted Leo and even your beloved K-pop group BTS had their music registered as an NFT, which begs the question: ‘Where is HitPiece in all this?’
They stood by this and even shared that those who oppose are free to send their qualms via DMs–They even stated that this is “definitely not a scam.” But is it really?
HitPiece drew flak from people online after listing some musicians’ songs as NFTs without their permission. In response to the backlash, HitPiece posted a statement on Twitter: “Clearly we have struck a nerve and are very eager to create the ideal experience for music fans. To be clear, artists get paid when digital goods are sold on HitPiece. Like all beta products, we are continuing to listen to all user feedback and are committed to evolving the product to fit the needs of the artists, labels, and fans alike.”
— HitPiece – NFTs (@joinhitpiece) February 2, 2022
HitPiece’s statement didn’t really help much, though. Artists responded to the statement, saying that artists don’t actually get paid since their works were put up on the site as NFTs without their consent.
However, the uproar of musicians and their respective fans has been heard. The site is currently unavailable and reads, “We started the conversation and we’re listening” on their homepage. Turns out the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sent a letter to a HitPiece representative urging a complete list of site activities and to account for all auctioned NFTs.
RIAA’s Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier explained the organization’s move for such an action stating, “As music lovers and artists embrace new technologies like NFTs, there’s always someone looking to exploit their excitement and energy…it was clear we had to move immediately and urgently stand up for fairness and honesty in the market.”
If you want to further read on this, you can click here to RIAA’s website.
Other POP! stories you might like:
Trese creators respond to backlash after selling NFTs
A rare footage of Wong Kar Wai’s ‘In The Mood for Love’ up for auction, as NFT
Uh oh, looks like NFTs have some issues – big problems, actually