Eve 6

Artists Are Furious After They Discovered NFTs Of Their Songs Were Being Sold Without Their Consent

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NFTs have become very popular in the music industry with a number of artists like Nas, Eminem, Doja Cat, The Weeknd, Mick Jagger, and more jumping on the wave. While the concept of an NFT may still be confusing to some, things have been smooth sailing for the time being. Unfortunately, all of that changed on Tuesday when the NFT platform HitPiece was exposed and accused of selling NFTs of numerous artists’ songs with their consent. The platform claims to sell “one of one NFTs of all your favorite songs,” but according to the many complaints from artists, this is far from the case.

One of the complaints against HitPiece came from the Nashville-based record company Needlejuice, who shared a statement on Twitter condemning the platform’s actions. “Neither us nor our artists have consented to @joinhitpiece selling NFTs of our music,” they wrote in a tweet. “Crypto grifters prove once again that they do not care about artists or ethics- just their dystopian end goal of turning every facet of life into a stock market pump & dump scheme.” In an interview with Newsweek, Needlejuice’s co-founder Brandon Brown added that “NFTs are fundamentally antithetical to our core values as a company.”

Many users of social media have concluded that HitPiece scraped Spotify’s API and used the streaming platform’s data to “auction” NFTs of songs without being completely clear about what is being sold in the NFT. After a few hours of being attacked by artists all over, HitPiece shared a statement about the matter on their Twitter page.

“Clearly we have struck a nerve and are very eager to create the ideal experience for music fans,” they wrote. “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.”

You can view more reactions from artists below.

A Music Meme Asking People To ‘Pick A House’ Earns Responses From Artists Themselves

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On Tuesday, Twitter was taken over by a music meme that asked people to “pick a house” based on the bands or groups that would be in it. A total of nine houses appeared in the meme, with each featuring six acts. The list of musicians included Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Greta Van Fleet, NWA, Wu-Tang Clan, Blink-182, Rage Against The Machine, Nine Inch Nails, and more. While many everyday people shared their responses, some artists also chimed in, sometimes critiquing the prompt.

Rock band Eve 6 felt there was a pair of options missing from the houses altogether. “There’s no power pop or cocaine rock house i’ll die from exposure,” they wrote. Questlove was caught between two choices but was able to make a pick. “My blood is in house 5,” he wrote. “But for history sake I’ll see you at house 3.” Lastly, rapper Open Mike Eagle went with three picks in his response. “Sleep in 1, cook in 5, shower in 9,” he wrote.

Alex Skolnick, who is the lead guitarist of Testament, who appear in house No. 2, also shared his picks. “I’m already in 2 but I’d be happy in 3 or 9,” he wrote. “Or more recently, 5!”

Others who chimed in were rapper Soul Khan, who asked, “Uh is there a housing covenant in this neighborhood.” On the other hand, singer-songwriter Liz Phair wrote simply, “Burn the neighborhood down.”

You see more replies below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.