UPDATE: Neptuneprince is getting paid.
public service annoucement: zedd is paying me
— ⏚ KIYON (@NEPTUNEPRlNCE) October 28, 2017
And for what it’s worth, Neptuneprince has seemingly completely forgiven Zedd as he’s been talking with him, and appears to have let things go. While Zedd’s initial response is exactly what you should never say to an artist in the first place, it’s good to know that the issue has been resolved.
Back in July, Twitter user @NEPTUNEPRINCE shared an animated video of three hot dogs dancing to DJ Khaled & Rihanna’s “Wild Thoughts.” The hot dogs were inspired by the dancing hot dogs from Snapchat’s new AR functionality. Because it’s the internet, obviously it went viral.
WILD THOUGHTS 🌭🌭🌭 pic.twitter.com/WEbh8A2PuR
— ⏚ KIYON (@NEPTUNEPRlNCE) July 14, 2017
Eventually, the video found its way to Zedd’s video team and ended up being used in his performance of “Get Low” with Liam Payne on Good Morning America.
@Neptuneprince says that he was able to get in contact with Zedd about the video, and allegedly he apologized and gave him credit on Twitter. However, he continues, “nowhere in the dm did he say he was going to use the clip on his tour.”
Photos later appeared of the dancing hot dog visuals from Zedd’s tour, complete with real life dancing hot dogs on stage, and @Neptuneprince was rightfully angry. He posted an explanation on Twitter and Instagram, explaining that he’s trying to “make life livable through commissioned work,” and the fact that his work is now being seen by thousands of people on Zedd’s tour without any compensation is wrong.
https://twitter.com/NEPTUNEPRlNCE/status/924289999746551808
Before writing this article, we reached out to Zedd’s team for comment, but that was before @Neptuneprince received these unfortunately distasteful DMs from Zedd.
https://twitter.com/NEPTUNEPRlNCE/status/924347964923043840
This is not how someone should respond to the person whose art they are using without compensation – this is exactly what artists have been fighting against in the past few years as their work is consistently stolen and used without permission. Zedd is the last person we would have expected to use the “free promotion” line, but it’s undeniably right there.
Follow Neptune Prince on Twitter and Instagram to support the original artist’s work.
Photo via Rukes.com
