A website that was offering songs by BTS, Britney Spears and others as NFTs appears to have suspended sales.
“We Started The Conversation And We’re Listening,” reads a message Wednesday morning at HitPiece.com.
On Twitter, the company responded to criticism on social media about their NFT sales.
“Clearly we have struck a nerve and are very eager to create the ideal experience for music fans,” reads a statement. “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.”
The website came under fire for boasting that each NFT it sold “is a One of One NFT for each unique song recording. Members build their Hitlist of their favourite songs, get on leaderboards, and receive in real life value such as access and experiences with Artists.”
This came as news to rock band Eve 6, which tweeted that the site “is selling nft’s of our band and MANY others without permission.” It added: “cease and desist motherf**kers. nft’s are fraud.”
Singer-songwriter Ted Leo fumed: “Bottom feeding scavengers of late capitalism sucking the last marrow from our bones and/or running a scam on me, you, or everyone, because obviously, I didn’t approve this, and apparently neither did anyone else you’ll see on the site.”
HitPiece was co-founded by Florida-based Michael Berrin and California-based Rory Felton.
According to Berrin’s LinkedIn profile, “HitPiece is a music/art based NFT platform that lives in its own ecosystem and allows users to buy and sell exclusively on our platform. Artist can create one of a kind NFT’s based on their single releases and create unique offerings exclusively for their fans who own their NFT’s.”
Berrin is co-founder and executive producer of production company 4MCMultiMedia. Felton is owner of Feltone, which is described on his LinkedIn profile as a “post-media music group with distribution through Sony Music/The Orchard.”