NFT Platform Accused of Stealing Artists' Music
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NFT Platform Accused of Stealing Artists' Music

2 года назад

Hitpiece's launch has been mired by a string of allegations — with bands alleging that their music has been listed without permission.

NFT Platform Accused of Stealing Artists' Music

Содержание

Artists have accused an NFT platform of stealing their music.

Hitpiece advertises itself as a marketplace that allows users to collect non-fungible tokens of their favorite songs.

Over time, they can cultivate playlists of the songs that mean the most to them, appear on leaderboards, and potentially unlock real-life experiences with the artists themselves.

But the project's launch has been mired by a string of allegations — with bands alleging that their music has been listed without permission.

To make matters worse, a number of the musicians in question are highly critical of NFTs as an asset class — pointing to the impact that they have on the environment.

Some have threatened to take legal action against Hitpiece, and the company has already received a number of cease and desist orders from record labels.

Hitpiece also appeared to list unofficial NFTs based on the intellectual property of major companies such as Nintendo and Disney — and copyright infringement cases could be especially nasty here given how such brands have deep pockets.

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'We're Listening'

The project's existence has caused a storm on social media. Now, the website's contents have been taken down and replaced with a message that says:

"We started the conversation and we're listening."

Hitpiece's data appears to have been derived from a Spotify API. CoinMarketCap has attempted to reach out to the project to ask whether artists were approached before their songs were listed, and whether they would have been offered a share of the profits if the NFTs sold, but did not receive a comment at the time of writing.

It's fair to say that the arrival of NFTs has divided the music world… in a similar way to the art world.

Some bands, including Kings of Leon, have opted to embrace these digital assets — with many experiencing overwhelming demand for their collections. But earlier this week, Kanye West said he preferred to focus on creating value in the real world, writing on Instagram: "Do not ask me to do a f****** NFT."

While NFTs have been touted as a way of allowing fans to gain distinctive collectibles with proven authenticity, theft in the industry remains a real and enduring problem. And while a blockchain record may exist for the NFT in question, it means little if it's a record of a counterfeited product.

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