Building anything without artists’ permission is just wrong.
Like many folks in the music ecosystem, we just discovered a new platform, Hitpiece, has launched offering users the chance to trade one of one NFTs of songs and tracks from a range of artists; and we were dismayed to realize that they were doing so without permission or authorization from the creators or rights holders.
This is — frankly — appalling. The future of music via Web3 is about empowering artists, not using their name and IP to fool consumers and destroy potential future revenue streams by undermining trust in emerging technologies.
Many artists and managers are in the process of reaching out to Hitpiece in an attempt to bring them into compliance with the laws governing copyright and rights management. We are all for people having fun and engaging with their favorite artists on-chain, but when it’s unauthorized it is actively harmful, damaging artists’ careers and livelihoods, and adding to the complexities of the music industry.
We reached out to Dean Wilson of Seven20, deadmau5’s longtime manager in regards to unauthorized music for sale as NFTs on Hitpiece:
“We’re all in on Web3, but anyone who uses the technology to fool others and run scams needs to be pushed out. You’ll find us in MODA DAO, you can listen to deadmau5 on Emanate, you’ll find legit NFTs all over but you shouldn’t buy it anywhere that has not been endorsed by us”
As an organization of artists, label owners, managers, and fans, everyone at MODA feels responsible for safeguarding artists’ rights. The products and platforms that we have and are building have been done so with the permission of the artists we partner with.
We reject any blockchain project that takes advantage of artists, tokenizes works without permission, and undermines the effort that so many of us have put in to rebuild the modern music industry.
We’re not going to sit by and let them fly under false colors — we urge fans and supporters to stay away from Hitpiece, and we will continue fighting for artists’ rights. We see MODA as being an organization built from the ground up with the best interests of creators at our core, and we will never support movements or technology that strips away their autonomy.
For those of you out there building legitimate products with artists, managers, and labels- thank you for your efforts. We are all in this together to build a better future for the music industry. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the industry remains a fair playing field for creators and that their rights are protected.
MODA’s mission is to grow the music economy by recognizing how technology can be used to better serve artists across all corners of this industry — with our focus on building modern toolsets that create new opportunities for decentralized collaboration. And we are carrying out that mission hand in hand with artists and rights owners.
If you are an independent artist whose work has been appropriated by Hitpiece, we encourage you to reach out to us (@MODA_DAO on Twitter); we will do our best to act on indie artists’ behalf to request the removal of your works from the Hitpiece platform.
To read more about what the legitimate, artist-focused future of Web3 music might look like, read the MODA DAO whitepaper.