Guys, get into this wild story.

There's this website that's been selling voice NFTs, right? And they've been practically ripping off the songs and voices of popular artists, minting and selling them for crazy money, all without their permission. And when the artists protested and said they didn't give anyone permission to use their voice or likeness, the team behind the website came up with a damage control strategy that included tweets and a seven word statement on the website's homepage saying, "We started the conversation and we're listening." Yep, it appears as though, we might be seeing the first cases of voice pirates in the metaverse... Might be though, might. I'm just saying... but I could be wrong.

Anyways, let's get into it.

What is an NFT?

An NFT is a one of a kind, non-fungible token, so like one of a kind digital art, videos or music. And the idea is that if you purchase an NFT, there'd never be another one exactly like it, right? 

So first people started minting NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, and they started making crazy money from it, like millions in minutes, right? Selling things like tweets and images of Weird Whales, Penguins and Bored Apes and stuff, right? Shiiid, for a moment I even thought of trying my hand at art and making a cool buck, but I balked at the gas fees. Anyways, I think many other speculators and digital artists, like way more serious ones, were also deterred by Ethereum's gas fees, right, so they moved on to other blockchains and started minting there, and so now artists are minting on Solana and FTM and Algorand and the like.

Anyways so, I know you're probably thinking, if an NFT is one of a kind, then how can a website be ripping off music and selling it, especially if you could maybe find that music on YouTube or Spotify or Apple Music, right?

Well, listen, the idea is that, yeah, maybe people can download your stuff and have copies of it, like take the digital art image of the Bored Apes that sold for millions, people steal those and have them up as their Twitter profiles all the time, right? True. But they don't own, like, authentic, digital bragging rights. They don't have the proof of ownership that would only come with the original item. So, if you think of it like that, that there's this unique data built into the digital file of the NFT giving the buyer like, I don't know, digital collector status kinda, then maybe it makes sense that ultimately, only one person could own an NFT, right? Right?

So maybe you don't want an exact replica for free if you could pay millions for the real thing. I don't know y'all, I don't understand rich people speak.

Anyways, back to our story. 

HitPiece started a conversation creators didn't ask for... allegedly

So, according to the reports, this website, HitPiece, came up with this idea to make NFTs out of music by popular artists like Britney Spears. And I could see why they thought it was a cool idea since another website, Voiceverse Origins, created a whole new record, partnering with celebrity voice actors and selling voice NFTs in less than ten minutes on OpenSea just about a week ago.

Now, in that case, Voiceverse Origins was promising to give users a unique voice in the Metaverse for games and video calls, right? I mean, after all, what's better than your own unique voice? Well, someone else's voice that you can shell out tons for maybe, because that other voice gives you the opportunity to "breed" a whole new voice NFT by mixing a soup of different voices together. And I mean it kinda makes sense when you think of it, not the shelling out tons part, right, cuz I don't have tons, but the part about getting a cool voice if that voice could be uniquely yours in the metaverse. 

And if you've got a cool voice you're willing to have minted as an NFT, then here's a way to make a cool buck.

So, according to an NBC article, "HitPiece  was launched by former Sony employee and music label owner Rory Felton and music executive and former rapper Michael Berrin, and it is backed by venture capitalists Ryan Singer and Blake Modersitzki." So it's got some cool funding behind it. And it was supposed to sell one-of-one music NFT’s including "either the original release artwork or bespoke generative cover art and can consist of access to experiences, exclusives, and additional utility found nowhere else". Right, but to do that, I'd think the owner has to agree, right? I mean, think of the  cautionary tale underway right now with the lawsuit between rapper Lil Yachty and NFT company, Opulous, where the rapper is charging that Opulous was not authorized to use his name and likeness. 

Anyways, HitPiece was promising some really cool music, like Bob Marley level stuff, right? I mean they'd probably have made millions selling an NFT of the great reggae artiste Jammin' in Paris, and that was the idea.

Buuuuuut... they kinda skipped over one key detail.

Yeah, there were quite a few of these on Twitter.

Awkward. I know. Cuz, I mean, I was kinda rooting for the artists, but they didn't have to do crypto like that, acting like it's not real money.

But suffice to say, the featured musicians were not on board with this project. At all. At least they don't seem to be.

HitPiece tries damage control

Man, if I were on that company's PR team, which I'm not by the way, I'd be lobbying for a pay raise because these people really have to be working over time to fix this mess.

After the artists spoke up and said they didn't give permission for their work to be sold, HitPiece put out a tweet, and I'll let you judge for yourselves.

Yo, I think I'm gonna make an NFT of this tweet, right here. Because, what?! I'm crying-laughing right now, where is a good emoji when you need it? I mean, I couldn't come up with this if I tried.

And now the entire community of NFT creators are probably thinking, like Nene Leakes, "Now see how I get drawn into stuff? I didn't do nun."

Anyways guys, what do you think of this development. Do you think the NFT industry presents a wrinkle for copyright protections? Do you think this means artists will now have to work double time to monitor and protect their work from unscrupulous pirates trying to make a quick buck? And as far as HitPiece is concerned, what are your thoughts about this debacle? Do you think it's an innocent mistake or do you think the team was caught with its hand in the cookie jar? I'd love to hear your views.

In the meantime, I'm off again, monitoring markets, scouting for opportunities, and looking for great stories to bring back to you. Until we meet again, remember, there's a pandemic outside, so please be safe! Arrivederci!