Deviant art has long been called trashy, but i appreciate them actually doing something about this. It shows how genuine they still are when it comes to art.
Yeah, I was kind of worried about how some of the stuff seemed like it was going downhill when they got bought out, but I'm glad they have that feature, and now I should probably go post some of the stuff I haven't put there up just in case. Especially when Art Fight comes around, I do worry about character theft as I have had some art stolen and recoloured before. Thankfully not sold, but they didn't credit me, or the artist I modified a base from, so I had to report them on the site that we were using.
What can Deviant art actually do about Open Sea? Its two different platforms. All people can do is report to OpenSea but that's it. If you don't use Deviant Art then you don't have to follow its TOS or loose your account.
The moment I read that Qinni, who passed away a couple years ago, had her art sold without her living relative's permission, whose late art expressed her grief of being terminally ill, was made to profit in the NFT system, I was absolutely against NFTs and anyone who blindly supported them. Profiting off of someone else's art work is one, disgusting thing, but to do it to an artist who has passed away, not even that long ago, and used her art to help her and others is abhorrent. Thanks for the video Brad, it's much appreciated
Thanks for making this video. Hearing successful NFT artist tout how good NFTs (or crypto) are is like listening to someone who won the lottery saying how buying lottery tickets is the future of finance.
yeah but that also goes for like literally anyone who has success in anything. famous people who say "believe in your dreams" to the whole world, obviously they have 'won the lottery' and most people wont reach their level of success or maybe make any money at all if they 'believe in their dreams'
@@chr1st0pher eh, there’s a pretty cut and dry formula to success, however you wanna define that. it’s just that it’s hard. and people don’t like doing hard things!
I like how u talked about deviant art protecting its users. A thing to note is that beyond the free trial u have to become a core member to still have your art scanned for.
they do offer free protection on some of my stuff, presumably temporarily. on the other hand, the entire service is free, and it's a lot of service, and they have to pay their employees.
And even they can't really keep up, with all the various NFT platforms that are cropping up. It's also not possible for creators, especially smaller ones, to spend a large portion of their time contacting all these platforms about each and every stolen art NFT... Truly a decentralised hellscape
NFT smelled fishy from the very first day I heard about it to me. It's the kind of thing that forces people to invest time in it in order not to be steamrolled by it. You're an artist and have never heard of NFT or don't want anything to do about it ? Well, people can and might steal the ownership of your work using NFTs. NFTs basically erase any form of ownership on anything and slap their own seal of ownership on top of it. Just like what governments do on people's inherited lands which aren't registered in their database (even though it's theirs for generations).
My first experience with NFTs was with stolen art. NFT bros scare me as well, they just ignore all the negative impacts and say “INVEST INVEST INVEST!!!”
my art had gotten scraped by the bots on opensea and at least 2 of my works were on there. one of them being a commission.. i hope nft's rot where they belong. in 404
your original NFT video was the first introduction I had about that topic and since you talked so positively about it I thought it was great, but not long after I started learning about all the negative sides of NFTs and I'm so glad you finally made another video about it. Right now most people who are making big money on NFTs are just mass producing cheap art with assets and it's not even special anymore, it has become another quick cash grab and we'll have to wait and see how long it lasts. All crypto related things in general are just a way for the rich to become richer and it doesn't help anyone but them...
true. They're all scammy-like. Real arts mostly on SuperRare and Foundation. I found out most artists before NFTs are there. The complication of getting invited makes only original artist are available. Opensea is a big no. (sry bad english)
"All crypto related things in general are just a way for the rich to become richer" Not true. You don't have to be rich to invest in crypto O.o Even investing few dollars or mining cryptocurrency is not "for rich". It's simply a way for some people THAT ARE NOT RICH to try and having some extra money (and not only that), you know, like when you invest in something in real life?! Only because there are scammers doesn't mean that everything crypto or NFT ARE A 100% A SCAM. SImply, when it comes to blockchains, it's a "you are responsible for yourself, learn your responsability and learn how not to get scammed by shady businness", that's it. How is it to hard to understand? Also even when not in NFT spaces, businness ALREDY steal art from people without asking permission and not even try to refund them, so?! What's the matter? Nothing new, right?! But people only see NFT as the worst, for some idiotic reasons (mainly because they ""inform"" themselves on ""reputable sources"" like Twitter people, that's why) and they believe Cryptos are the most evil thing, that consumes a lot of energy, that destroy the planet and so on.... WHEN IS NOT. So yeah, do actual research and study how things works (like you should always do with ANYTHING in life for God's sake!) and stop whining like a 2 years old, people?! Take responsability for yourselves for one time!
@@jessicaruggenenti1731 that’s 100% what everyone should know jessica. This is just like internet back in the old days. Of course complications will come, it is what separate the early adopters and late comers. Spot on
You need a large following to get the kind of money celebs are getting for their NFTs. No Joe Blogs has that kind of reach right now. Kind of like a pyramid scheme if you will. All the nobodies making the somebodies rich. Been done before, same bs just different outfit. Nothing new under the sun.
This is one of the reasons I like your channel so much, Brad. You are enthusiastic about art and tech, but critical, and not afraid to openly say when you don't support or endorse something that you previously did endorse. Like with the Stonehouse situation too. You're a cool guy💕
I really need this kind of videos to understand NFTs, I have been confused about it for months now I was almost tempt to join in when my classmates ask if I want to make the drawings for them (for NFTs), I ultimately turn it down because I was just genuinely unsure about it
At it’s most simple, an NFT is a link to a picture (or other thing), but stored on a cryptocurrency blockchain. The blockchain does NOT store the picture, it does not back it up, protect it, authenticate it, or even confirm it’s authenticity. You buy the unique link, that’s it. The exact same picture can be listed several times, but because those links are different, they are “Non-Fungible” (not interchangeable, unique items). Because the contents of the NFT do not honor the cryptographic trust chain - instead simply signing as a paid transaction - it is difficult to confirm that the listing party is the creator / owner of the work and has legal authority to sell this single copy to you. And, finally… Because it’s just a web link hosted on a website, while the Blockchain protects the /contents/ of the LINK (the letters and order that comprise it), it does NOT protect the linked file - the image. The owner can (and sometimes has) subsequently deleted the linked images from their personal websites and with it revoked them from the buyer’s wallets.
I hear you, but as old guy too (flash designer - remember that), I think what we are seeing is "growing pains". Hear me out, the internet is already broken in many places and the good thing is this technolgy is contantly changing and improving. It's not the end but its the very beginning. Good video.
The baseball analogy was a great way to visualize the unregulated and dangerous nature of NFT's, well done! Have you seen Folding Idea's video on this? It's a really comprehensive yet in-depth overview of scamming/theft and NFT's. Very enlightning stuff.
Yeah, I really enjoyed that video. He had a very logical approach to NFTs which was interesting. I've had a more emotion reaction and I wanted to unpack why?
Thank you for perfectly articulating my own thoughts on the NFT game. I too would like to make money off my art, but the culture seems too scammy to be legit.
I have a similar stand with Brad on this whole NFT ordeal. For me NFT by the idea itself ain't bad, it's the way that some people use it that wrong. As an artist myself, NFT should be used to sell GENUINE art from fellow artist, not tons of auto-generated half-assed JPEG that's used for trading, more so STEALING other people art and sell it with an excuse "hey you didn't bother to sell it, so I'm allowed to sell it LOL". Lots of modern technology play with human common sense, and twist that sense to make things that should be wrong becomes right and normal. NFT have the same analogy with kitchen knife, it should be used to make delicious food, but it also can be used to stab and hurt people. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you're right to do it. So again for me, NFT by itself actually not bad (though the technology need to be optimized to decrease resource needed), but the way that some people end up using it thats wrong.
Thank you for making this video brad, it’s important for people to bring attention to issues like these, you’ve always been an huge inspiration to me, again thank you
Thanks for updating us on your change of heart on NFTs. There's a lot of sketchy misinformation, sleazy press releases from game companies itching to make a buck, and well-intentioned but complex breakdowns of blockchains' environmental impact. I don't fully understand it myself, but from what I can gather from multiple reliable sources, the tech itself is promising but in its current form, there's no direct benefit to artist or consumer, only to tech bros jumping in early to cash out. A "minted" piece of media does not signify copyright ownership (nobody cares about a hyperlink, guys), resource-heavy unregulated transactions of unbacked cryptocurrencies are a security nightmare, it's all just...madness, really. The extreme exaltation from NFT proponents just screams of "C'mon everybody, jump on this hot trend so I can prove I wasn't jilted out of my life savings for buying a glorified Picrew like a fool!". Between the art theft, ugly lions, company shilling, hell even the graphics card shortage, I'm sick of hearing about it (unless, again, it's from someone expressing a change of heart, like yourself). We'd all benefit from doing some honest research instead of getting swept up in the hype. This was long huh. Have a good day anyone who made it this far!
Brad, thank you so much for this video, first and foremost, because you are being honest about your change of mind about NFTees, while most artists jumping on the bandwagon just announce their limited editions and play deaf on critics or never speak about it again, you shared your experience and research that lead you go back up on this idea, I’d wish more artists had your integrity and shared their experiences, but I’m afraid they are betting on people forgetting they did this and act like nothing’s happened. I really hope artists that have change of mind about their NF/Ts come open about it and learn to be less apprehensive about having bad decisions, all of it artists and creators have had bad experiences, but we often don’t share it because we too much aware of our social media image and are afraid to be perceived as “haters” or “contrarians”, but I think it would be so much easy if they just admitted it was a bad move and said “I promise I’ll research better next time”, but alas, that’s a very rare thing to happen. Or, IDK maybe I liked your Baseball park analogy because I like baseball and don’t like being mugged, but that’s just me.
With all the monkey art it is really easy to get the artist credit lost but on ptojects like Metatriads and Shamanzs there is a distinct unique style and their artists are featured on the web page as founders and not only artist for hire
I'll admit I was kinda intrigued about the whole NFT/crypto art craze around this time last year. I even minted an NFT myself on Rarible back in April, just to see if I could make it there, and my decision on whether or not to continue pursuing NFTs depended entirely on whether or not that NFT sold. Of course, it never did sell, and with the ridiculous gas fee to mint the thing, it ultimately came out to being a total loss. I would've burned it and washed my hands of the whole NFT craze entirely, but I don't want to waste any more money on gas fees in order to do so, so I just left it. Since then, as I've kept hearing more and more about the art theft and other crypto scams, and especially since seeing the recent Folding Ideas video (highly recommended if you have 2+ hours to spare), I've decided to check out of the whole NFT mess entirely. So, I say, No F***ing Thanks.
Dunno, if you're still confused or want more details, just watch the Folding Ideas video. It's not a hard topic to figure out, it's not a two sided debate. It's pretty clear cut.
i think you are viewing the NFT from the point of view of a small artis, which is more vulnerable, don't have the support of followers or means to deal with the art thief... thank you Brand for be empatic and for thinking instead of let you go with the flow...
You put into words exactly how I've been feeling about NFT's. There need to be rules/policing of some sort for me as an artist to feel safe in that space.
I TOTALLY FEEL what Brad is saying in the beginning about reaching a certain age where some of these newer "tech" just DOESN'T make any sense... and WHY do they even exist!!!
Thanks so much for this Brad. As an artist/designer I too had a similar journey as you in this space and ended up in pretty much the same spot. It's nice to see.
I'm an artist and I have been against this since my sister introduced me to it. I even wanted to test it out to see what the outcome would be and the first thing they prompted me with was if they could have a link to my portfolio. That was an automatic NOPE! And then I heard that NFT's were created from the late Qinni's work WITHOUT the living relatives consent. Downright disgusting!!! Another automatic NOPE!! However, what really solidified my discomfort and hate about them was when a few weeks ago, UA-camrs were having NFT's created just from their profile images WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT!!!! NOPE! NOPE!! REALLY. FREAKING. NOPE!!!!!!! I have been avoiding NFT's by the power of NOPE ever since!!!!!!!! Thank you for making this video. In the back of my mind, I was gonna cave and start doing them since I'm low on money but you have given me even more clarity to not do them and just keep putting my work out there like how I did before
I've been an artist on the Algorand blockchain for a few months now. I've not had any of the art theft experience, its a carbon negative block chain, and I feel very supported by those who buy my art and reach out and message me about it. I'm active in a few of the main asa discords and have gotten to know alot of people. Its been a great experience for me and frankly my income as well. However, I know my positive experience isn't typical and I feel I've been alienated by a few of my art peers when I jumped into NFTs because of their anti-NFT values. Brad I think you covered this well. I'm saddened NFTs aren't doing what they have the potential to do.
I don't understand why people hate on NFTs so much, Im not saying I like them, but they are no different than "buying" a digital copy of a movie or show from Apple or Google, or even paying for Netflix. You don't actually own anything! you just get to watch/look at something until the service goes away.
I greatly appreciate your honesty and straightforward response on NFTs. I’ve followed your channel for quite some time, and I love the fact that you are at the core advocates for artists wanting to get into creating digital art. You’ve helped so many artists like me and many others make the best decisions possible in creating art in a modern way. For you to stand up for artists, especially when they’ve been victims of art theft, means more than words can describe. This is why you’ve earned your followers, and deserve to be apart of this community as a leader. Not only have you gained many artists respect, but you’ve more importantly gained our trust. I know this is a lot to throw at someone who you barely know. But for what it’s worth, I thank you for giving your unbiased opinion on this. You’ve definitely helped me make a decision, like many times before, that I can stand by confidently. Anyone who hates you for presenting these valid concerns, doesn’t have respect nor appreciation for artists apart of the digital art community.
This was a good video, thank you for making it. I am sad to see the letters NFT thrown out like they are magic words. They are not and we should call them for what they are : certificates of authenticity. With that in mind, you can understand that a certification from an official source or a reknown gallery has some value and a certification produced in a back alley has none. So far, we have no regulation and the reknown sources are just starting to emerge ( Adobe making NFT is a good thing imo ). With no authority to supervise and no consequence for people comitting fraud, NFT are today what they are being called out : scams. Saying "Anyone can make NFT" is actually a red flag.
This sounds exactly like my journey in NFTs (I minted one of my pieces back in March of 2021). It was around the same time that you released this video in early February, that after seeing the influx of scams and art theft, I decided to pause all of my activity. I believe FOMO was driving most of my decisions and that is not a sound business model. Thank you for the information and reminder why I am currently on the sidelines. Hopefully there is a way forward in the near future and that your DMs have settled down for now.
Great video, Brad, good to hear someone talking sense about NFTs and exploring the issues surrounding them - and what some companies are doing about those.
As someone who left a comment on the original video, it feels only appropriate to leave a comment here. Thank you for making this Brad, and listening to your community. Means a lot to see. (fun story, I got an add for an NFT platform both times I watched this video. Not your fault -to my knowledge, you don’t control your ads- but I thought we’d all get a bitter chuckle out of it)
Wow! a lot to think about. Keep your commentaries going. NFTs are really still new to me, but I think your points are equally valid and supported. Like you, I started out 20+ years ago and always try to stay abreast with what and how to leverage tech and art. Grant it, I may not have used or subscribed to the latest and greatest trends, but being informed is the name of the game, especially when working with such a vast array of clients and industries. Basically, I appreciate and respect knowledge, but I also tell those who want to pass judgment, do your own research and make your own choices that best work for you. Don't burn someone elses house down because you disagree. And as for theft. Well, theft is just that, and copying another's art in any form and passing it off as your own, is still theft, no matter what the platform or medium. But, on the flip side of that coin, according to economics and business law... a McDonald's Big Mac isn't the same as a Whopper. At least according to monopolistic competition.
I also think it's important to point out that the art is not on the blockchain - just the receipt for the art - you can point to anything after that, just like html with etc
I liked this video! I liked the "beginning to end"-trail of thought of your view of NFTs. Good work pointing out "why it was good" to "the bad is PRETTY bad" about NFTs 👍
Thank you for making this video. I have not heard enough people talking about the bad side of this whole thing especially the art theft. You have hit all my own misgivings about NFTs and I too am ready for it all to go away. I also wondered if I was just being the old grumpy guy so good to hear there are others feeling this too.
Thanks for this video! It's helping me start an email to my employer about being a part of NFTs. As a little small dinky artist I was frustrated with the thought of being attached to a company that is even touching NFTs and you helped me think of it in a way that is a little more understanding from their perspective while still sharing what is not ok about the whole thing!
To be honest the idea of being able to sell my art excites me, but knowing that the way to do it is having to be in line with scammers really bums me out, i might make money i might not, but even if i do it just wouldn't feel right.
Dude I am so proud of you for taking a stand on this. There are so many artists sitting on the fence waiting to see if they can make money out of it before passing judgement. My family was really encouraging me to sell them. But I said no from the outset.
I did not follow your NFT crisis, I had no idea but I really like your analysis, your honesty, your choice of trying but not going further. Keep making good content! Thanks 🙏🏼
Back in october, a youtuber named BeeJayDeL promoted an NFT project. People mentioned the problems with it and I mentioned that NFTs are controversial would lead to a PR disaster with his subscribers. He said PR and his fans that hated NFTs didn't matter to him. Now his NFT video is ironically gone and and his nft twitter account was abandoned after a month! This past year has been really wild with nfts. Thank you for such an informative video!
Alot of great points of the current state of NFTs. I agree, right now it's highly speculative, with many day trading for a quick profit. High gas prices (Etherium) and gas wars when minting, scams, and Art Theft is a real thing. It's still relatively early in the NFT world, over time some or most of those issues will be ironed out, or corrected by the market. Specially the speculative part and gas prices. Hopefully there will also be a viable solution to curb Art Theft. I do think that NFTs as a whole will be the future of many things not just art, mostly due to their smart contracts, however I can definitely see the negative bias that currently exist. Brad, in the future you can explore NFTs that not only provide the art, but utility to it via a smart contracts. Such that as an artist one can provide "unlockable content" like source files, videos, digital experiences, etc. That would provide your fan base real value, which can then be leveraged in the secondary market after.
Thanks for this video. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. You've shared some of the same concerns I have about NFT's, mostly the part where persons steal art just to make a quick buck, its really unfair to the creators.
One way to see it from a step back is to remember that NFTs are merely digital contracts of ownership. A text file in the blockchain. It's something that in our digital era creates a new revolution, especially if we'll invest more into VR and our lives "dissolve" into digital forms of all sorts. Whether we like this direction or not we can at least say that an ownership contract of my own artwork will protect it much more than before, it's a copyright document. I've successfully had one of my artworks removed from Opensea by contacting them and most platforms require you to prove you are the creator of whatever you mint. However, as everything that starts with hypes and trends, the way this has been used with art (or "art") has been clumsy, often toxic and speculative in the worse manner. A lot of money started circulating, therefore a lot of scams. But that's not an inherent problems of the NFT, like we shouldn't get enraged at forks if someone uses them to poke at people. So I see these hypes and scams will gradually reduce and stabilize. My main concern however is the anonymity of transactions. If this is not resolved then there aren't many legal battles to be won in the "metaverse" and someone will always try to make a quick profit out of stolen artworks, cos even if they get caught after selling one it's too late. Other than that my feelings about NFTs are mixed: I find the new tech interesting especially for digital artist, there's potential. I would like for digital art to be recognized as fine art and be priced accordingly, and only an NFT might achieve that, not a print. However seeing how the fine-arts world and its market is not in a better position either I'm not too hopeful, but then again, it's not an NFT problem. It's how it's being used.
You're absolutely right! when the NFT topic steamed up on the internet I was just not getting the whole point behind it although I liked the concept but wasn't getting its rules. Then your video came out about the NFTs and I said let's go now I'll understand what the heck are NFTs but to be honest I just didn't. I think we should not take this seriously right now as we don't yet have the resources to tackle its disadvantages and we haven't really settled the rules yet but hopefully, soon this could do a pretty good job for the whole artist's community. I'm with you, Brad.
A lot of respect for your well researched approach. I'm working for an existing NFT project and I also work for a more traditional media company. I think most of the creatives and artists I know or work with may not have the right perspective or outlook on NFTs. I think the reason why so many scams exist is because we're still very much in the cash-grab, wild wild west phase of this. What's needed is legitimate, reputable artists coming into the space launching real projects that add value.. Also happy you've learned about some alternative networks. Nothing in the crypto space will survive if they don't adopt L2 solutions. Little to no environmental impact + transactions that cost a few pennies. I do hope you change your mind and reconsider getting back into it at some point. As someone who knows a lot of actual artists, and now has a lot of working knowledge of crypto and the NFT space in general, I'd be happy to do have a discussion with you about it!
My first exposure to NFTs was through your videos. At first, they did not sound so bad, but a lot has changed since then. The more I found out about them, the more I started disliking them. - Video game publishers only use them to create artificial scarcity for products that would otherwise be available in infinite quantities. - Scammers and talentless hecks steal other people's work and sell it without the permission of the original artist. - The worst thing is that NFTs in their current form are not even really linked to the actual product and therefore nobody can make sure that someone doesn't just take a screenshot and then sell that as there own NFTs. While none of these problems are caused by NFTs, NFTs amplify them tremendously. The Only good thing they have, the whole "Artists getting payed" thing, is mitigated by the fact, that: - Professional artists should already have had a way to prove that their work was used without their permission (invoices, licenses, etc...) The bad outway the good here.
Thank you for the video, Brad, I'm glad you made it. I'm also a graphic designer and for a while I was thinking about this new "market possibility" but I never tried it... Currently I think it's a "dark" market, I think it has good potential but currently it's not ready yet... It needs more security policies to protect the artists and we need a better and more friendly energetic system to make it sustainable... Also, I'm against speculative markets, most of the people are just buying and creating this stuff based on that, and not because they "love art". I know that art has value, but a doodle should worth that much, specially when you have a lot of variants of the same job made in minutes... For those who really love art, or an artist, go directly to the artist, contact them through their official channels and make a custom commission, this way you will have a design (or a collection) exactly as you wanted it. Come to an agreement about the delivery and a publication that publicizes the sale of said design.
As a pro crypto, pro NFT person who is working with NFT's and building apps on Ethereum I think your video was incredibly fair. I've watched you for a long time and when I saw the title I thought this was just another artist I like shi**ing on NFT's for being links or whatever. However, your criticism is fair and it reflects opinion of a lot of us who want some change in the industry. Thank you for the fair critique Brad.
the scams and art thefts are a very big issue rn i do hope that in future these can be sorted out cos no one can deny that nfts have potential but rn they aren’t being put to good use
It's sad that it started as a mean for artists to get paid well. A concept artist only gets paid by their employee, maybe far less than what he/she deserves. It was great to see fans of their art support them and get an investment in return.
I literally avoided this video because of my annoyance of NFT’s, but as you know the UA-cam algorithm was like “nope, here’s Brad’s video again in your timeline.” So I watched. I love all of your videos man, even the reviews of the Chinese knockoff tablets, and I actually learned something from this.
I can’t exactly pin point when I suscribe to your channel but I remember watching your video on NFTs because I keep seeing it everywhere and as a freelance artist I was happy and exited for this potential new market. But as you said the dirt keep coming and it’s hard to give the benefit of the doubt to this sites, I don’t fully blame artists that jump into the trend, but you have at some point not care about all this problems to be able to keep selling. When the case of Qinni and Loish came up, it’s was hard to not get angry because it’s clear that they don’t care about the humans behind the artwork (or even the artwork itself) it’s all about the money and getting there first. I’m happy to see you made this video, and maybe people who like NFT at least would hear this side, because clearly they aren’t reading it on twitter. Love your content! Thanks for sharing it :D
Will the real Brad Colbow come out an play?! Thanks for your authentic and transparent view from an experienced perspective. I have been a pro artist since high school and seen many fads. I believe it's important to not only be aware of the difference between reality and perception, but also be responsible to stand up against art theft. Good going Brad!
I'm an artist , and I heard for the first time about NFT a year ago in an art group. I was confused on what the guy was saying about what an NFT and it gave me bad vibes. I am glad someone like you are out there showing the truth. I'm trying to get my work out there and it's hard. Fyi the logo is my design .
I keep hearing "Etheruem is switching, Ethereum is switching" but like... when? I tell everyone I'm "losing weight" but it hasn't happened for several years. I don't want to hear about this promise anymore until it has happened. I think the concept of paying tons of money, crypto or not, for unregulated "ownership" that only a subset of the population acknowledges is insanity. But if they were to at least address all the concerns in your video, I wouldn't get so upset. And I really think we could benefit from having more of these kinds of educated conversations rather than screaming at each other from afar. Nice video.
Thanks for the info and I know how u feel is that a huge concern I being analyzing for a long time and until is all clear out I won't just put my art out there to be scam. And even being in debt. I get it man going against the flow is not easy for people to see u til they drown.
I'm happy you made this video because I couldn't stop thinking about Nft at one point but stop because it seems sketchy to ME so thanks. It feels good to know I'm not the only one.
You're one of my favorite artists and a person who's opinion I highly value. I am a diehard NFT enthusiast and I am very deep in the NFT community. I honestly thought I was going to be disappointed after watching this video, but I'm actually more relieved than anything. You brought up everything that is concerning to me as well. I truly still believe that NFTs are the future and a great thing for all artists, but the level of scams makes my blood boil. Until something is done to make NFT scams next to impossible, it will never be adopted by the masses and nor should it be. I can only do my part and hope that one day NFTs will be the way they are intended to be.
Respect to you man. Great respect to you. When a big artist goes live, makes videos about his wins, he creates a wave. Everyone wants to get on that wave. But, does the artist think twice before advocating something that may lose its significance over the period? You’re a great man who acknowledges the fallacies of this. Also, a true artist wants his art to be possessed by someone who will love it. Not by some chumps who want to make quick bucks out of it. Art is art, not a commodity.
I've always associated NFTs with art theft. A huge majority of the artists I follow on Twitter have had their work stolen and minted, and for those that were able to get it taken down it was a huge hassle. Very early on an artist I follow posted that someone had taken their deceased brothers work and turned it into NFTs without anyone's permission. The sister then tried to get it taken down and was basically told that if he's dead he won't mind. They eventually got his work taken down after taking legal action, but it took a lot of time and effort to do so.
I’ve had multiple people come to me talking about NFTs and I spent time researching it. The more I learn about NFTs, the more it sound like the new version of the guy selling stolen stuff out of his trench coat in an alley.
As an artist who's been part of online art communities for years, I just don't even have the energy to deal with this whole thing. I don't have the energy to track down my own work being used, or demand takedowns.. The regular old art theft we had was bad enough. I don't even have the energy to try to profit off my own work as NFT's. Because I think it's so stupid and I want to make money with art the good old legit ways by freelancing or having a Patreon etc. I hate that NFTs existing feels like a new plague upon the online art world, I don't want more reason s to feel like giving up on being online with my art, but sometimes when I'm really tired, the thought of the NFTs is enough and I'm just like "why even keep going the world is a joke nothing is sacred anymore"
Total love from me, man. The scammers suck, but If the technology is enabling people to misuse it so badly, then I blame the tech as well. If the barrier to entry is so low that any idiot with an Internet connection can steal money, that's BAD, and you can't just say "it's not the tech".
That is the exact same argument used against the internet in the early days. Man this sounds like straight up dejavu to the kate 90's & early 2000's when most people didn't understand what ut was and just went full fear mode.
@@Skapo LOL, the Internet IS to blame for a lot of societies woes today. It’s an amplifier for fear and hate, specifically tuned for maximum effect. It’s like the saying “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”, which is a fallacy, because guns make it SOOO much easier. The Internet is the exact same way, as are NFTs, and anything else people can use that are honed to do the most damage as quickly as possible. There’s nothing Luddite about understanding that some tech is better equipped to hurt people than others.
Awesome balanced critic of NFTs! A lot of videos rant about how much they hate them with out researching or interacting with any NFT projects. I like NFTs, but there are TONS of problems. Super scammy. I feel some of these will be worked out as the market matures IF people in the community take them seriously like you suggest.
I really appreciate this video, so I'll be one of the happy people in your comments today. When I first heard about NFTs it was from a techy influencer who was excited about them. My very first question was "how do you prevent art theft?" and when I did some digging to discover that they just didn't, I was against NFTs immediately. I have been ever since. I say this as a software developer, not an artist. I may not be an artist professionally, but I follow and enjoy the work of far too many artists to get behind NFTs. I simply cannot in good conscience support a computer technology initiative that actively and overtly does not care about the people it hurts. ESPECIALLY when it masquerades as something that would help those people. I honestly didn't see the NFT sponsored video you did, but if I had I probably would have been among the unsubscribed. I'm happy I'm still here 🙂 Digital art does not need artificial scarcity. Nothing at all needs artificial scarcity.
I'm glad to see more detailed and factual overviews of NFTs, especially as someone who was also originally confused. Also, it may be considered a dead site by many, but I am definitely becoming more active on my DA account because they deserve it for caring about this far more than many bigger platforms.
Great video sharing your experience and summarizing the situation in a pretty reasonable way, as most things about NFTs are sooooo poalrized. even though you start off by saying you want nfts to go away forever, you are aware of your own biases and able to draw good parallels and perspectives that i think are useful for people on both sides. artist getting payed is indeed the most appealing thing about NFTs but unfortunatly there are just sooo many other problems that can't be overlooked. But they are not, and i'm afraid NFTs are getting such a bad rep now that we are killing the possibility of "artist getting payed". Ofcourse there's going to be a lot of problems with a new technology that needs to be sorted out. and ofcourse there's gonna be a ton of scams and shady behavior utilizing this new opportunity. there is sooo much of that in the art world allready, so why would we expect NFTs to be any different? you could say the same thing about websites or email. it's full of scam and shady behavior, but does that mean we should hate on the fundamental technology that makes this possible?? As an artist i am afraid to mint NFTs or promote them because as you say you are going to get hated for it! but to use your analogy, should we really hate baseball for the sake of muggers?? indeed we need measures to stop these muggings but please don't kill the sport or hate the players. The enviromental argument is a BIG one for sure and is simply disgusting with proof of work. not just the power consumption but the whole gpu crisis being a big problem for digital artists for a long time now is a huge irony! but there are already marketplaces on proof of stake we should support instead. markedplaces should also take measures to combat scams and art theft indeed. and for every artist who has gotten their art stolen, that is infuriating i get it! it shoulden't be our jobb to hunt down and take down these frauds. but think about this a little bit deeper. Why are anyone buying an NFT to begin with?? as so many like to point out as well, it's not to gain exclusive access to a jpeg or digital file. it's to have a proof of ownership, and bragging rights. either brag about owning something expensive and exclusive, or simply just a proof that you are supporting an artist no matter how big or small because you actually care for the art they make! OR you are simply buying it because you think you can sell it for profit and you don't really care about the art. but in either case, if you as a buyer didn't do your research and just bought an NFT from one of these sites that turn out to be fake you have failed. you did not support the artist, and the NFT you bought is essentially worthless, whether it get's taken down or not. just as if you bought a fake Picasso painting, the victim is the idiot who bought it more than the artist. And I think most of the people buying these fake NFTs fall in the second category who think they will make a profit and don't really care about art. so no one feels very bad for them either I think. with the amazon t-shirt comparison the buyer is still getting a cool tshirt with a stolen art or idea, and noone is gonna point out that i's a fake. but with nft the whole point of what you are buying is the authenticity not the product it self so if it's fake you just bought nothing!! Therefor i think the solution is that buyers need to be more critical and investigate what they are really buying. don't just buy something of a market place, but if you follow and artist on social media or other places and they are all linking to the NFTs you can be confident that these are infact genuin and your money is going to the artist. just like Patreon people are actually willing to pay for a proof of their support of something and this is a great thing! If not all independent artist have to generate money is to sell a few prints and add revenues from social media. So excuse my wall of text if anyone even reads it, but i really hope we can turn NFTs into something positive for artists instead of thronging it under the bus because some lowlife crypto speculator was dumb enough to buy their stolen artwork without doing any research in hopes for profit. peace!
I'm glad you made this video. I'm one of the angry folks who unsubscribed after your NFT ad. The YT algorithm recommended this video and it was right for once! I still take a much more hardline stance on NFTs than you are here but I'm about 95% back on team Brad. Good on you for taking the time to reevaluate and to talk about it publicly. You are a good dude.
Great video - was absolutely worth getting it off your chest. In my opinion the biggest advocates of art NFT's are probably people who manipulate it the most / steal people's content to make money or people who wave the "embrace the future" flag that absolutely refuse to admit the corruption and negative aspects of it. If you had people like that as subscribers, you're better off without them. Again, as you said there are plenty of people who use the NFT system legitimately with tremendous talent who deserve to reap the rewards. The elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about us the ugly side of humanity that has absolute zero empathy/ethics in making a quick buck - period. The fact that you stood up and said something doesn't make you an outcast, it makes you a hero.
I've long felt the NFT hype was largely driven by the get rich quick mentality. I've also seen some almost worship NFTs and crypto like a new religion, and stuff like that always puts me off. Especially as there are some very clear downsides that sometimes get ignored
Like almost all technological innovations, the lowest form of greed will try to take advantage of it. I think there is a place for NFTs but right now it’s the Wild Wild West and nothing has been done to assert accountability or responsibility. However, like the initial round of micro transactions from years ago (horse armor DLC rings a bell) it will evolve into something that will be common place (like Activision making nearly 5 billion in MTX for 2021 alone). Too much money to be made for this to die out unfortunately. The best thing you can do is keep researching and seeing how it plays out. Appreciate the insight Brad, as always, your perspective is grounded but thoughtful! Hope you keep these style of videos coming!
My introduction to NFTs was 3 artists in a row ranting about their art being used for NFTs. I was already used to them ranting about their art being used on unofficial merchandise on Amazon.
I made it to the end of the video. Always had my doubts about NFT's, still have them now, but it wouldn't surprise me if some my art would be on it already. Great video, honest opinion, that's always appreciated.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if compared to traditional physical art, NFTs basically allows you to copy famous paintings like the Mona Lisa, sell it to a museum, and claim it as yours - all because the museum doesn't check for the authenticity of the artwork?
I am not a fan of NFTs. Here is my thoughts, why some companies are saying good things of it or even apply it to their products. Is it because it can help them make better products? Or just because it can help them make way more money?
There are plenty of marketplaces that dont just let anyone upload anything... you have to go through applications, proof of work and submit the project youd like to be considered for,
Hi Brad, I like nfts and criptos and I agree with your take the technologies and the systems are still new and testing out against the complexity of the real world, and for that I thanks you a lot for having you genuine opinion on it, more artist needs to gave their take to feed and warn the community.
Deviant art has long been called trashy, but i appreciate them actually doing something about this. It shows how genuine they still are when it comes to art.
Yeah, I was kind of worried about how some of the stuff seemed like it was going downhill when they got bought out, but I'm glad they have that feature, and now I should probably go post some of the stuff I haven't put there up just in case. Especially when Art Fight comes around, I do worry about character theft as I have had some art stolen and recoloured before. Thankfully not sold, but they didn't credit me, or the artist I modified a base from, so I had to report them on the site that we were using.
So glad that I made a Deviantart account before I started posting art
What can Deviant art actually do about Open Sea? Its two different platforms. All people can do is report to OpenSea but that's it. If you don't use Deviant Art then you don't have to follow its TOS or loose your account.
1. You need core to get pernament protection.
2. Protect can detect memes as nft.
nah after they added AI is when it showed they never cared
The moment I read that Qinni, who passed away a couple years ago, had her art sold without her living relative's permission, whose late art expressed her grief of being terminally ill, was made to profit in the NFT system, I was absolutely against NFTs and anyone who blindly supported them. Profiting off of someone else's art work is one, disgusting thing, but to do it to an artist who has passed away, not even that long ago, and used her art to help her and others is abhorrent.
Thanks for the video Brad, it's much appreciated
Yeah I feel the same way. It was horrible seeing that happened cuz u know if she was alive, she'd be against it completely.
Yeah I feel the same way. It was horrible seeing that happened cuz u know if she was alive, she'd be against it completely.
I hate that I know this now. I’m so fucking mad.
I love qinni
That's like being against cars because someone got killed by a drunk driver...
Thanks for making this video. Hearing successful NFT artist tout how good NFTs (or crypto) are is like listening to someone who won the lottery saying how buying lottery tickets is the future of finance.
Great analogy.
Couldn’t have worded it better myself
yeah but that also goes for like literally anyone who has success in anything. famous people who say "believe in your dreams" to the whole world, obviously they have 'won the lottery' and most people wont reach their level of success or maybe make any money at all if they 'believe in their dreams'
@@chr1st0pher agreed
@@chr1st0pher eh, there’s a pretty cut and dry formula to success, however you wanna define that. it’s just that it’s hard. and people don’t like doing hard things!
I like how u talked about deviant art protecting its users. A thing to note is that beyond the free trial u have to become a core member to still have your art scanned for.
they do offer free protection on some of my stuff, presumably temporarily. on the other hand, the entire service is free, and it's a lot of service, and they have to pay their employees.
@@MobiusBandwidth yeah my stuff was also protected temporarily. I haven’t checked on my profile in a while tho so idk if it’s still up
And even they can't really keep up, with all the various NFT platforms that are cropping up. It's also not possible for creators, especially smaller ones, to spend a large portion of their time contacting all these platforms about each and every stolen art NFT... Truly a decentralised hellscape
NFT smelled fishy from the very first day I heard about it to me.
It's the kind of thing that forces people to invest time in it in order not to be steamrolled by it.
You're an artist and have never heard of NFT or don't want anything to do about it ? Well, people can and might steal the ownership of your work using NFTs.
NFTs basically erase any form of ownership on anything and slap their own seal of ownership on top of it. Just like what governments do on people's inherited lands which aren't registered in their database (even though it's theirs for generations).
Anything you post to instagram is automatically the property of the Zuckerberg to make money off of, yet millions continue to use it.
Part of why I'm going to make my watermarks bigger and uglier, all artists should, at least the NFTS will have our art sites and usernames on them
My first experience with NFTs was with stolen art. NFT bros scare me as well, they just ignore all the negative impacts and say “INVEST INVEST INVEST!!!”
They said to me “ Drop” “shill” and end up using my art to pump their collections… mfckers
my art had gotten scraped by the bots on opensea and at least 2 of my works were on there. one of them being a commission.. i hope nft's rot where they belong. in 404
your original NFT video was the first introduction I had about that topic and since you talked so positively about it I thought it was great, but not long after I started learning about all the negative sides of NFTs and I'm so glad you finally made another video about it. Right now most people who are making big money on NFTs are just mass producing cheap art with assets and it's not even special anymore, it has become another quick cash grab and we'll have to wait and see how long it lasts. All crypto related things in general are just a way for the rich to become richer and it doesn't help anyone but them...
true. They're all scammy-like. Real arts mostly on SuperRare and Foundation. I found out most artists before NFTs are there. The complication of getting invited makes only original artist are available. Opensea is a big no. (sry bad english)
so true! for a real artist there is nothing so painful than his artwork getting stolen and being used for cheap purposes
"All crypto related things in general are just a way for the rich to become richer"
Not true. You don't have to be rich to invest in crypto O.o Even investing few dollars or mining cryptocurrency is not "for rich". It's simply a way for some people THAT ARE NOT RICH to try and having some extra money (and not only that), you know, like when you invest in something in real life?! Only because there are scammers doesn't mean that everything crypto or NFT ARE A 100% A SCAM. SImply, when it comes to blockchains, it's a "you are responsible for yourself, learn your responsability and learn how not to get scammed by shady businness", that's it.
How is it to hard to understand?
Also even when not in NFT spaces, businness ALREDY steal art from people without asking permission and not even try to refund them, so?! What's the matter? Nothing new, right?!
But people only see NFT as the worst, for some idiotic reasons (mainly because they ""inform"" themselves on ""reputable sources"" like Twitter people, that's why) and they believe Cryptos are the most evil thing, that consumes a lot of energy, that destroy the planet and so on....
WHEN IS NOT.
So yeah, do actual research and study how things works (like you should always do with ANYTHING in life for God's sake!) and stop whining like a 2 years old, people?!
Take responsability for yourselves for one time!
@@jessicaruggenenti1731 that’s 100% what everyone should know jessica. This is just like internet back in the old days. Of course complications will come, it is what separate the early adopters and late comers. Spot on
You need a large following to get the kind of money celebs are getting for their NFTs. No Joe Blogs has that kind of reach right now. Kind of like a pyramid scheme if you will. All the nobodies making the somebodies rich. Been done before, same bs just different outfit. Nothing new under the sun.
This is one of the reasons I like your channel so much, Brad. You are enthusiastic about art and tech, but critical, and not afraid to openly say when you don't support or endorse something that you previously did endorse. Like with the Stonehouse situation too. You're a cool guy💕
I really need this kind of videos to understand NFTs, I have been confused about it for months now
I was almost tempt to join in when my classmates ask if I want to make the drawings for them (for NFTs), I ultimately turn it down because I was just genuinely unsure about it
Check out the most recent video from Folding Ideas to really learn how it works, it's so so much worse than just what Brad touched upon in this video.
Recameneding folding ideas video on nfts too^^
@@lennartb Yep that video does a great job covering all the issues. Totally worth it to watch till the end.
Yeah, you also had the "gut feeling" too?
At it’s most simple, an NFT is a link to a picture (or other thing), but stored on a cryptocurrency blockchain. The blockchain does NOT store the picture, it does not back it up, protect it, authenticate it, or even confirm it’s authenticity. You buy the unique link, that’s it. The exact same picture can be listed several times, but because those links are different, they are “Non-Fungible” (not interchangeable, unique items). Because the contents of the NFT do not honor the cryptographic trust chain - instead simply signing as a paid transaction - it is difficult to confirm that the listing party is the creator / owner of the work and has legal authority to sell this single copy to you.
And, finally… Because it’s just a web link hosted on a website, while the Blockchain protects the /contents/ of the LINK (the letters and order that comprise it), it does NOT protect the linked file - the image. The owner can (and sometimes has) subsequently deleted the linked images from their personal websites and with it revoked them from the buyer’s wallets.
I hear you, but as old guy too (flash designer - remember that), I think what we are seeing is "growing pains". Hear me out, the internet is already broken in many places and the good thing is this technolgy is contantly changing and improving. It's not the end but its the very beginning. Good video.
The baseball analogy was a great way to visualize the unregulated and dangerous nature of NFT's, well done!
Have you seen Folding Idea's video on this? It's a really comprehensive yet in-depth overview of scamming/theft and NFT's. Very enlightning stuff.
Yeah, I really enjoyed that video.
He had a very logical approach to NFTs which was interesting. I've had a more emotion reaction and I wanted to unpack why?
@@thebradcolbow Both videos make a nice pairing!
Thank you both for your thoughts!
Thank you for perfectly articulating my own thoughts on the NFT game. I too would like to make money off my art, but the culture seems too scammy to be legit.
I have a similar stand with Brad on this whole NFT ordeal. For me NFT by the idea itself ain't bad, it's the way that some people use it that wrong.
As an artist myself, NFT should be used to sell GENUINE art from fellow artist, not tons of auto-generated half-assed JPEG that's used for trading, more so STEALING other people art and sell it with an excuse "hey you didn't bother to sell it, so I'm allowed to sell it LOL".
Lots of modern technology play with human common sense, and twist that sense to make things that should be wrong becomes right and normal.
NFT have the same analogy with kitchen knife, it should be used to make delicious food, but it also can be used to stab and hurt people. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you're right to do it.
So again for me, NFT by itself actually not bad (though the technology need to be optimized to decrease resource needed), but the way that some people end up using it thats wrong.
Are you lost ?
NFT is horrible for the environment.
Stop being a selfish jerk.
@@repeekyraidcero explain how, I'd love to hear it.
I recommend watching the video "line goes up" by the channel Folding ideas for a more in-depth look at the many issues with NFT and crypto.
@@bencastor9207 You can get the answer within a few second using google search
I never understood how people kept buying the same monkey drawing with just a different background color
Thank you for making this video brad, it’s important for people to bring attention to issues like these, you’ve always been an huge inspiration to me, again thank you
Talking about scams, look at the scam replies...
I have been having the same thoughts about NFTs. You put it together perfectly.
I too am holding back on minting an NFT, for now.
Thanks for updating us on your change of heart on NFTs. There's a lot of sketchy misinformation, sleazy press releases from game companies itching to make a buck, and well-intentioned but complex breakdowns of blockchains' environmental impact. I don't fully understand it myself, but from what I can gather from multiple reliable sources, the tech itself is promising but in its current form, there's no direct benefit to artist or consumer, only to tech bros jumping in early to cash out. A "minted" piece of media does not signify copyright ownership (nobody cares about a hyperlink, guys), resource-heavy unregulated transactions of unbacked cryptocurrencies are a security nightmare, it's all just...madness, really.
The extreme exaltation from NFT proponents just screams of "C'mon everybody, jump on this hot trend so I can prove I wasn't jilted out of my life savings for buying a glorified Picrew like a fool!". Between the art theft, ugly lions, company shilling, hell even the graphics card shortage, I'm sick of hearing about it (unless, again, it's from someone expressing a change of heart, like yourself). We'd all benefit from doing some honest research instead of getting swept up in the hype.
This was long huh. Have a good day anyone who made it this far!
Brad, thank you so much for this video, first and foremost, because you are being honest about your change of mind about NFTees, while most artists jumping on the bandwagon just announce their limited editions and play deaf on critics or never speak about it again, you shared your experience and research that lead you go back up on this idea, I’d wish more artists had your integrity and shared their experiences, but I’m afraid they are betting on people forgetting they did this and act like nothing’s happened.
I really hope artists that have change of mind about their NF/Ts come open about it and learn to be less apprehensive about having bad decisions, all of it artists and creators have had bad experiences, but we often don’t share it because we too much aware of our social media image and are afraid to be perceived as “haters” or “contrarians”, but I think it would be so much easy if they just admitted it was a bad move and said “I promise I’ll research better next time”, but alas, that’s a very rare thing to happen.
Or, IDK maybe I liked your Baseball park analogy because I like baseball and don’t like being mugged, but that’s just me.
With all the monkey art it is really easy to get the artist credit lost but on ptojects like Metatriads and Shamanzs there is a distinct unique style and their artists are featured on the web page as founders and not only artist for hire
I just cant ignore the art man :D maybe theres something wrong with me IDK
Good point man
Do you know the team?
Never thought about that 🤔
I'll admit I was kinda intrigued about the whole NFT/crypto art craze around this time last year. I even minted an NFT myself on Rarible back in April, just to see if I could make it there, and my decision on whether or not to continue pursuing NFTs depended entirely on whether or not that NFT sold. Of course, it never did sell, and with the ridiculous gas fee to mint the thing, it ultimately came out to being a total loss. I would've burned it and washed my hands of the whole NFT craze entirely, but I don't want to waste any more money on gas fees in order to do so, so I just left it.
Since then, as I've kept hearing more and more about the art theft and other crypto scams, and especially since seeing the recent Folding Ideas video (highly recommended if you have 2+ hours to spare), I've decided to check out of the whole NFT mess entirely. So, I say, No F***ing Thanks.
Dunno, if you're still confused or want more details, just watch the Folding Ideas video. It's not a hard topic to figure out, it's not a two sided debate.
It's pretty clear cut.
i think you are viewing the NFT from the point of view of a small artis, which is more vulnerable, don't have the support of followers or means to deal with the art thief... thank you Brand for be empatic and for thinking instead of let you go with the flow...
I think a video you may like it Line Goes Up by Folding Ideas. It talks about a lot of the problems in Crypto and NFTs.
You put into words exactly how I've been feeling about NFT's. There need to be rules/policing of some sort for me as an artist to feel safe in that space.
I TOTALLY FEEL what Brad is saying in the beginning about reaching a certain age where some of these newer "tech" just DOESN'T make any sense... and WHY do they even exist!!!
Thanks so much for this Brad. As an artist/designer I too had a similar journey as you in this space and ended up in pretty much the same spot. It's nice to see.
I'm an artist and I have been against this since my sister introduced me to it. I even wanted to test it out to see what the outcome would be and the first thing they prompted me with was if they could have a link to my portfolio. That was an automatic NOPE!
And then I heard that NFT's were created from the late Qinni's work WITHOUT the living relatives consent. Downright disgusting!!! Another automatic NOPE!!
However, what really solidified my discomfort and hate about them was when a few weeks ago, UA-camrs were having NFT's created just from their profile images WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT!!!!
NOPE! NOPE!! REALLY. FREAKING. NOPE!!!!!!!
I have been avoiding NFT's by the power of NOPE ever since!!!!!!!!
Thank you for making this video. In the back of my mind, I was gonna cave and start doing them since I'm low on money but you have given me even more clarity to not do them and just keep putting my work out there like how I did before
I've been an artist on the Algorand blockchain for a few months now. I've not had any of the art theft experience, its a carbon negative block chain, and I feel very supported by those who buy my art and reach out and message me about it. I'm active in a few of the main asa discords and have gotten to know alot of people. Its been a great experience for me and frankly my income as well.
However, I know my positive experience isn't typical and I feel I've been alienated by a few of my art peers when I jumped into NFTs because of their anti-NFT values.
Brad I think you covered this well. I'm saddened NFTs aren't doing what they have the potential to do.
I don't understand why people hate on NFTs so much, Im not saying I like them, but they are no different than "buying" a digital copy of a movie or show from Apple or Google, or even paying for Netflix. You don't actually own anything! you just get to watch/look at something until the service goes away.
I think Brad explained pretty well. Especially the last 5 minutes, oh man!
I greatly appreciate your honesty and straightforward response on NFTs. I’ve followed your channel for quite some time, and I love the fact that you are at the core advocates for artists wanting to get into creating digital art. You’ve helped so many artists like me and many others make the best decisions possible in creating art in a modern way. For you to stand up for artists, especially when they’ve been victims of art theft, means more than words can describe. This is why you’ve earned your followers, and deserve to be apart of this community as a leader. Not only have you gained many artists respect, but you’ve more importantly gained our trust. I know this is a lot to throw at someone who you barely know. But for what it’s worth, I thank you for giving your unbiased opinion on this. You’ve definitely helped me make a decision, like many times before, that I can stand by confidently. Anyone who hates you for presenting these valid concerns, doesn’t have respect nor appreciation for artists apart of the digital art community.
This was a good video, thank you for making it. I am sad to see the letters NFT thrown out like they are magic words. They are not and we should call them for what they are : certificates of authenticity. With that in mind, you can understand that a certification from an official source or a reknown gallery has some value and a certification produced in a back alley has none.
So far, we have no regulation and the reknown sources are just starting to emerge ( Adobe making NFT is a good thing imo ). With no authority to supervise and no consequence for people comitting fraud, NFT are today what they are being called out : scams.
Saying "Anyone can make NFT" is actually a red flag.
Well done and absolutely nailed it on the message. Thanks for making this and good luck with your inbox, comments, DMs...
So far so good :D
Thanks for watching Mark!
This sounds exactly like my journey in NFTs (I minted one of my pieces back in March of 2021). It was around the same time that you released this video in early February, that after seeing the influx of scams and art theft, I decided to pause all of my activity. I believe FOMO was driving most of my decisions and that is not a sound business model. Thank you for the information and reminder why I am currently on the sidelines. Hopefully there is a way forward in the near future and that your DMs have settled down for now.
I'm glad you're not into NFTs. I love your channel and reviews. Really helps me to think about my tech investments
Great video, Brad, good to hear someone talking sense about NFTs and exploring the issues surrounding them - and what some companies are doing about those.
As someone who left a comment on the original video, it feels only appropriate to leave a comment here.
Thank you for making this Brad, and listening to your community. Means a lot to see.
(fun story, I got an add for an NFT platform both times I watched this video. Not your fault -to my knowledge, you don’t control your ads- but I thought we’d all get a bitter chuckle out of it)
Wow! a lot to think about. Keep your commentaries going. NFTs are really still new to me, but I think your points are equally valid and supported. Like you, I started out 20+ years ago and always try to stay abreast with what and how to leverage tech and art. Grant it, I may not have used or subscribed to the latest and greatest trends, but being informed is the name of the game, especially when working with such a vast array of clients and industries.
Basically, I appreciate and respect knowledge, but I also tell those who want to pass judgment, do your own research and make your own choices that best work for you. Don't burn someone elses house down because you disagree. And as for theft. Well, theft is just that, and copying another's art in any form and passing it off as your own, is still theft, no matter what the platform or medium. But, on the flip side of that coin, according to economics and business law... a McDonald's Big Mac isn't the same as a Whopper. At least according to monopolistic competition.
This is a great breakdown of NFTs. So great to see how far you've come Brad! Keep it up!
I also think it's important to point out that the art is not on the blockchain - just the receipt for the art - you can point to anything after that, just like html with etc
I liked this video! I liked the "beginning to end"-trail of thought of your view of NFTs. Good work pointing out "why it was good" to "the bad is PRETTY bad" about NFTs 👍
Thank you for making this video. I have not heard enough people talking about the bad side of this whole thing especially the art theft. You have hit all my own misgivings about NFTs and I too am ready for it all to go away. I also wondered if I was just being the old grumpy guy so good to hear there are others feeling this too.
Thanks for this video! It's helping me start an email to my employer about being a part of NFTs. As a little small dinky artist I was frustrated with the thought of being attached to a company that is even touching NFTs and you helped me think of it in a way that is a little more understanding from their perspective while still sharing what is not ok about the whole thing!
To be honest the idea of being able to sell my art excites me, but knowing that the way to do it is having to be in line with scammers really bums me out, i might make money i might not, but even if i do it just wouldn't feel right.
Dude I am so proud of you for taking a stand on this. There are so many artists sitting on the fence waiting to see if they can make money out of it before passing judgement. My family was really encouraging me to sell them. But I said no from the outset.
I did not follow your NFT crisis, I had no idea but I really like your analysis, your honesty, your choice of trying but not going further. Keep making good content! Thanks 🙏🏼
Back in october, a youtuber named BeeJayDeL promoted an NFT project. People mentioned the problems with it and I mentioned that NFTs are controversial would lead to a PR disaster with his subscribers. He said PR and his fans that hated NFTs didn't matter to him. Now his NFT video is ironically gone and and his nft twitter account was abandoned after a month!
This past year has been really wild with nfts.
Thank you for such an informative video!
Alot of great points of the current state of NFTs. I agree, right now it's highly speculative, with many day trading for a quick profit. High gas prices (Etherium) and gas wars when minting, scams, and Art Theft is a real thing.
It's still relatively early in the NFT world, over time some or most of those issues will be ironed out, or corrected by the market. Specially the speculative part and gas prices. Hopefully there will also be a viable solution to curb Art Theft.
I do think that NFTs as a whole will be the future of many things not just art, mostly due to their smart contracts, however I can definitely see the negative bias that currently exist.
Brad, in the future you can explore NFTs that not only provide the art, but utility to it via a smart contracts. Such that as an artist one can provide "unlockable content" like source files, videos, digital experiences, etc. That would provide your fan base real value, which can then be leveraged in the secondary market after.
Thanks for this video. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. You've shared some of the same concerns I have about NFT's, mostly the part where persons steal art just to make a quick buck, its really unfair to the creators.
One way to see it from a step back is to remember that NFTs are merely digital contracts of ownership. A text file in the blockchain. It's something that in our digital era creates a new revolution, especially if we'll invest more into VR and our lives "dissolve" into digital forms of all sorts. Whether we like this direction or not we can at least say that an ownership contract of my own artwork will protect it much more than before, it's a copyright document. I've successfully had one of my artworks removed from Opensea by contacting them and most platforms require you to prove you are the creator of whatever you mint.
However, as everything that starts with hypes and trends, the way this has been used with art (or "art") has been clumsy, often toxic and speculative in the worse manner. A lot of money started circulating, therefore a lot of scams. But that's not an inherent problems of the NFT, like we shouldn't get enraged at forks if someone uses them to poke at people. So I see these hypes and scams will gradually reduce and stabilize. My main concern however is the anonymity of transactions. If this is not resolved then there aren't many legal battles to be won in the "metaverse" and someone will always try to make a quick profit out of stolen artworks, cos even if they get caught after selling one it's too late.
Other than that my feelings about NFTs are mixed: I find the new tech interesting especially for digital artist, there's potential. I would like for digital art to be recognized as fine art and be priced accordingly, and only an NFT might achieve that, not a print. However seeing how the fine-arts world and its market is not in a better position either I'm not too hopeful, but then again, it's not an NFT problem. It's how it's being used.
You're absolutely right! when the NFT topic steamed up on the internet I was just not getting the whole point behind it although I liked the concept but wasn't getting its rules. Then your video came out about the NFTs and I said let's go now I'll understand what the heck are NFTs but to be honest I just didn't. I think we should not take this seriously right now as we don't yet have the resources to tackle its disadvantages and we haven't really settled the rules yet but hopefully, soon this could do a pretty good job for the whole artist's community. I'm with you, Brad.
A lot of respect for your well researched approach. I'm working for an existing NFT project and I also work for a more traditional media company. I think most of the creatives and artists I know or work with may not have the right perspective or outlook on NFTs. I think the reason why so many scams exist is because we're still very much in the cash-grab, wild wild west phase of this. What's needed is legitimate, reputable artists coming into the space launching real projects that add value..
Also happy you've learned about some alternative networks. Nothing in the crypto space will survive if they don't adopt L2 solutions. Little to no environmental impact + transactions that cost a few pennies.
I do hope you change your mind and reconsider getting back into it at some point. As someone who knows a lot of actual artists, and now has a lot of working knowledge of crypto and the NFT space in general, I'd be happy to do have a discussion with you about it!
I appreciate your level head and thoughtful comment :D
My first exposure to NFTs was through your videos.
At first, they did not sound so bad, but a lot has changed since then.
The more I found out about them, the more I started disliking them.
- Video game publishers only use them to create artificial scarcity for products that would otherwise be available in infinite quantities.
- Scammers and talentless hecks steal other people's work and sell it without the permission of the original artist.
- The worst thing is that NFTs in their current form are not even really linked to the actual product and therefore nobody can make sure that someone doesn't just take a screenshot and then sell that as there own NFTs.
While none of these problems are caused by NFTs, NFTs amplify them tremendously.
The Only good thing they have, the whole "Artists getting payed" thing, is mitigated by the fact, that:
- Professional artists should already have had a way to prove that their work was used without their permission (invoices, licenses, etc...)
The bad outway the good here.
Thank you for the video, Brad, I'm glad you made it. I'm also a graphic designer and for a while I was thinking about this new "market possibility" but I never tried it... Currently I think it's a "dark" market, I think it has good potential but currently it's not ready yet... It needs more security policies to protect the artists and we need a better and more friendly energetic system to make it sustainable... Also, I'm against speculative markets, most of the people are just buying and creating this stuff based on that, and not because they "love art". I know that art has value, but a doodle should worth that much, specially when you have a lot of variants of the same job made in minutes...
For those who really love art, or an artist, go directly to the artist, contact them through their official channels and make a custom commission, this way you will have a design (or a collection) exactly as you wanted it. Come to an agreement about the delivery and a publication that publicizes the sale of said design.
As a pro crypto, pro NFT person who is working with NFT's and building apps on Ethereum I think your video was incredibly fair.
I've watched you for a long time and when I saw the title I thought this was just another artist I like shi**ing on NFT's for being links or whatever.
However, your criticism is fair and it reflects opinion of a lot of us who want some change in the industry.
Thank you for the fair critique Brad.
I'm 16 and I don't get island boys either
the scams and art thefts are a very big issue rn
i do hope that in future these can be sorted out cos no one can deny that nfts have potential but rn they aren’t being put to good use
It's sad that it started as a mean for artists to get paid well. A concept artist only gets paid by their employee, maybe far less than what he/she deserves. It was great to see fans of their art support them and get an investment in return.
Rich people ruin everything
I literally avoided this video because of my annoyance of NFT’s, but as you know the UA-cam algorithm was like “nope, here’s Brad’s video again in your timeline.” So I watched. I love all of your videos man, even the reviews of the Chinese knockoff tablets, and I actually learned something from this.
I can’t exactly pin point when I suscribe to your channel but I remember watching your video on NFTs because I keep seeing it everywhere and as a freelance artist I was happy and exited for this potential new market. But as you said the dirt keep coming and it’s hard to give the benefit of the doubt to this sites, I don’t fully blame artists that jump into the trend, but you have at some point not care about all this problems to be able to keep selling. When the case of Qinni and Loish came up, it’s was hard to not get angry because it’s clear that they don’t care about the humans behind the artwork (or even the artwork itself) it’s all about the money and getting there first.
I’m happy to see you made this video, and maybe people who like NFT at least would hear this side, because clearly they aren’t reading it on twitter.
Love your content! Thanks for sharing it :D
thank you so much for your input, really appreciate you using your platform to make sure people in your audience are informed
Will the real Brad Colbow come out an play?! Thanks for your authentic and transparent view from an experienced perspective. I have been a pro artist since high school and seen many fads. I believe it's important to not only be aware of the difference between reality and perception, but also be responsible to stand up against art theft. Good going Brad!
Please differentiate between NFT Art (where the associated asset as ipfs is an image) and actual NFTs, for example NFTs in games or as tickets
I'm an artist , and I heard for the first time about NFT a year ago in an art group. I was confused on what the guy was saying about what an NFT and it gave me bad vibes. I am glad someone like you are out there showing the truth. I'm trying to get my work out there and it's hard. Fyi the logo is my design .
Thank you so much for making this. By far the best breakdown I’ve seen on the topic and approached logically from a more human element.
I keep hearing "Etheruem is switching, Ethereum is switching" but like... when? I tell everyone I'm "losing weight" but it hasn't happened for several years. I don't want to hear about this promise anymore until it has happened.
I think the concept of paying tons of money, crypto or not, for unregulated "ownership" that only a subset of the population acknowledges is insanity. But if they were to at least address all the concerns in your video, I wouldn't get so upset. And I really think we could benefit from having more of these kinds of educated conversations rather than screaming at each other from afar. Nice video.
Thanks for the info and I know how u feel is that a huge concern I being analyzing for a long time and until is all clear out I won't just put my art out there to be scam. And even being in debt. I get it man going against the flow is not easy for people to see u til they drown.
I'm happy you made this video because I couldn't stop thinking about Nft at one point but stop because it seems sketchy to ME so thanks. It feels good to know I'm not the only one.
You're one of my favorite artists and a person who's opinion I highly value. I am a diehard NFT enthusiast and I am very deep in the NFT community. I honestly thought I was going to be disappointed after watching this video, but I'm actually more relieved than anything. You brought up everything that is concerning to me as well. I truly still believe that NFTs are the future and a great thing for all artists, but the level of scams makes my blood boil. Until something is done to make NFT scams next to impossible, it will never be adopted by the masses and nor should it be. I can only do my part and hope that one day NFTs will be the way they are intended to be.
I also hope they go away. I'm glad you are talking about this.
Respect to you man. Great respect to you. When a big artist goes live, makes videos about his wins, he creates a wave. Everyone wants to get on that wave. But, does the artist think twice before advocating something that may lose its significance over the period? You’re a great man who acknowledges the fallacies of this. Also, a true artist wants his art to be possessed by someone who will love it. Not by some chumps who want to make quick bucks out of it. Art is art, not a commodity.
I've always associated NFTs with art theft. A huge majority of the artists I follow on Twitter have had their work stolen and minted, and for those that were able to get it taken down it was a huge hassle. Very early on an artist I follow posted that someone had taken their deceased brothers work and turned it into NFTs without anyone's permission. The sister then tried to get it taken down and was basically told that if he's dead he won't mind. They eventually got his work taken down after taking legal action, but it took a lot of time and effort to do so.
I’ve had multiple people come to me talking about NFTs and I spent time researching it. The more I learn about NFTs, the more it sound like the new version of the guy selling stolen stuff out of his trench coat in an alley.
As an artist who's been part of online art communities for years, I just don't even have the energy to deal with this whole thing.
I don't have the energy to track down my own work being used, or demand takedowns.. The regular old art theft we had was bad enough.
I don't even have the energy to try to profit off my own work as NFT's. Because I think it's so stupid and I want to make money with art the good old legit ways by freelancing or having a Patreon etc.
I hate that NFTs existing feels like a new plague upon the online art world, I don't want more reason s to feel like giving up on being online with my art, but sometimes when I'm really tired, the thought of the NFTs is enough and I'm just like "why even keep going the world is a joke nothing is sacred anymore"
Giving you love in the comments! I really appreciate your openness and honesty
Total love from me, man. The scammers suck, but If the technology is enabling people to misuse it so badly, then I blame the tech as well. If the barrier to entry is so low that any idiot with an Internet connection can steal money, that's BAD, and you can't just say "it's not the tech".
That is the exact same argument used against the internet in the early days. Man this sounds like straight up dejavu to the kate 90's & early 2000's when most people didn't understand what ut was and just went full fear mode.
@@Skapo LOL, the Internet IS to blame for a lot of societies woes today. It’s an amplifier for fear and hate, specifically tuned for maximum effect. It’s like the saying “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”, which is a fallacy, because guns make it SOOO much easier. The Internet is the exact same way, as are NFTs, and anything else people can use that are honed to do the most damage as quickly as possible. There’s nothing Luddite about understanding that some tech is better equipped to hurt people than others.
I really enjoy your videos Brad. Really informative, well reasoned and definitely interesting. Thank you.
My favorite thing is finding out someone I've been a fan of for years is a comrade.
Awesome balanced critic of NFTs! A lot of videos rant about how much they hate them with out researching or interacting with any NFT projects. I like NFTs, but there are TONS of problems. Super scammy. I feel some of these will be worked out as the market matures IF people in the community take them seriously like you suggest.
I really appreciate this video, so I'll be one of the happy people in your comments today.
When I first heard about NFTs it was from a techy influencer who was excited about them. My very first question was "how do you prevent art theft?" and when I did some digging to discover that they just didn't, I was against NFTs immediately. I have been ever since. I say this as a software developer, not an artist.
I may not be an artist professionally, but I follow and enjoy the work of far too many artists to get behind NFTs. I simply cannot in good conscience support a computer technology initiative that actively and overtly does not care about the people it hurts. ESPECIALLY when it masquerades as something that would help those people.
I honestly didn't see the NFT sponsored video you did, but if I had I probably would have been among the unsubscribed. I'm happy I'm still here 🙂
Digital art does not need artificial scarcity. Nothing at all needs artificial scarcity.
I'm glad to see more detailed and factual overviews of NFTs, especially as someone who was also originally confused. Also, it may be considered a dead site by many, but I am definitely becoming more active on my DA account because they deserve it for caring about this far more than many bigger platforms.
Thanks for making me understanding how artists feel about this topic
Great video sharing your experience and summarizing the situation in a pretty reasonable way, as most things about NFTs are sooooo poalrized. even though you start off by saying you want nfts to go away forever, you are aware of your own biases and able to draw good parallels and perspectives that i think are useful for people on both sides. artist getting payed is indeed the most appealing thing about NFTs but unfortunatly there are just sooo many other problems that can't be overlooked. But they are not, and i'm afraid NFTs are getting such a bad rep now that we are killing the possibility of "artist getting payed". Ofcourse there's going to be a lot of problems with a new technology that needs to be sorted out. and ofcourse there's gonna be a ton of scams and shady behavior utilizing this new opportunity. there is sooo much of that in the art world allready, so why would we expect NFTs to be any different? you could say the same thing about websites or email. it's full of scam and shady behavior, but does that mean we should hate on the fundamental technology that makes this possible?? As an artist i am afraid to mint NFTs or promote them because as you say you are going to get hated for it! but to use your analogy, should we really hate baseball for the sake of muggers?? indeed we need measures to stop these muggings but please don't kill the sport or hate the players.
The enviromental argument is a BIG one for sure and is simply disgusting with proof of work. not just the power consumption but the whole gpu crisis being a big problem for digital artists for a long time now is a huge irony! but there are already marketplaces on proof of stake we should support instead. markedplaces should also take measures to combat scams and art theft indeed. and for every artist who has gotten their art stolen, that is infuriating i get it! it shoulden't be our jobb to hunt down and take down these frauds. but think about this a little bit deeper. Why are anyone buying an NFT to begin with?? as so many like to point out as well, it's not to gain exclusive access to a jpeg or digital file. it's to have a proof of ownership, and bragging rights. either brag about owning something expensive and exclusive, or simply just a proof that you are supporting an artist no matter how big or small because you actually care for the art they make! OR you are simply buying it because you think you can sell it for profit and you don't really care about the art. but in either case, if you as a buyer didn't do your research and just bought an NFT from one of these sites that turn out to be fake you have failed. you did not support the artist, and the NFT you bought is essentially worthless, whether it get's taken down or not. just as if you bought a fake Picasso painting, the victim is the idiot who bought it more than the artist. And I think most of the people buying these fake NFTs fall in the second category who think they will make a profit and don't really care about art. so no one feels very bad for them either I think. with the amazon t-shirt comparison the buyer is still getting a cool tshirt with a stolen art or idea, and noone is gonna point out that i's a fake. but with nft the whole point of what you are buying is the authenticity not the product it self so if it's fake you just bought nothing!! Therefor i think the solution is that buyers need to be more critical and investigate what they are really buying. don't just buy something of a market place, but if you follow and artist on social media or other places and they are all linking to the NFTs you can be confident that these are infact genuin and your money is going to the artist. just like Patreon people are actually willing to pay for a proof of their support of something and this is a great thing! If not all independent artist have to generate money is to sell a few prints and add revenues from social media. So excuse my wall of text if anyone even reads it, but i really hope we can turn NFTs into something positive for artists instead of thronging it under the bus because some lowlife crypto speculator was dumb enough to buy their stolen artwork without doing any research in hopes for profit. peace!
I'm glad you made this video. I'm one of the angry folks who unsubscribed after your NFT ad. The YT algorithm recommended this video and it was right for once! I still take a much more hardline stance on NFTs than you are here but I'm about 95% back on team Brad. Good on you for taking the time to reevaluate and to talk about it publicly. You are a good dude.
Here you dropped this.
👑👌🏻
Great video - was absolutely worth getting it off your chest. In my opinion the biggest advocates of art NFT's are probably people who manipulate it the most / steal people's content to make money or people who wave the "embrace the future" flag that absolutely refuse to admit the corruption and negative aspects of it. If you had people like that as subscribers, you're better off without them. Again, as you said there are plenty of people who use the NFT system legitimately with tremendous talent who deserve to reap the rewards. The elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about us the ugly side of humanity that has absolute zero empathy/ethics in making a quick buck - period. The fact that you stood up and said something doesn't make you an outcast, it makes you a hero.
Owning a NFT is like buying a Lamborghini then leaving at the dealership, then getting a taxi back home 🤡
I've long felt the NFT hype was largely driven by the get rich quick mentality.
I've also seen some almost worship NFTs and crypto like a new religion, and stuff like that always puts me off. Especially as there are some very clear downsides that sometimes get ignored
I've seen dead youtubers have their profile picture sold as NFTs.
Like almost all technological innovations, the lowest form of greed will try to take advantage of it. I think there is a place for NFTs but right now it’s the Wild Wild West and nothing has been done to assert accountability or responsibility. However, like the initial round of micro transactions from years ago (horse armor DLC rings a bell) it will evolve into something that will be common place (like Activision making nearly 5 billion in MTX for 2021 alone). Too much money to be made for this to die out unfortunately. The best thing you can do is keep researching and seeing how it plays out. Appreciate the insight Brad, as always, your perspective is grounded but thoughtful! Hope you keep these style of videos coming!
Don't mind me I just think that calling NFTs a technological innovation is such a big stretch.
My introduction to NFTs was 3 artists in a row ranting about their art being used for NFTs.
I was already used to them ranting about their art being used on unofficial merchandise on Amazon.
I love big platforms like you shade some lights on how bad NFT is. Keep doing the good work! 🔥🔥🔥
I absolutely needed to hear this. I was feeling like i was crazy. Thanks, Brad.
I made it to the end of the video. Always had my doubts about NFT's, still have them now, but it wouldn't surprise me if some my art would be on it already. Great video, honest opinion, that's always appreciated.
I had no idea that DeviantArt does that with NFTs. That is amazing and my respect for them has just ascended to the next level.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if compared to traditional physical art, NFTs basically allows you to copy famous paintings like the Mona Lisa, sell it to a museum, and claim it as yours - all because the museum doesn't check for the authenticity of the artwork?
It took Keanu laughing in an interview for most tech influencers to finally say something about it tbh.
I am not a fan of NFTs. Here is my thoughts, why some companies are saying good things of it or even apply it to their products. Is it because it can help them make better products? Or just because it can help them make way more money?
There are plenty of marketplaces that dont just let anyone upload anything... you have to go through applications, proof of work and submit the project youd like to be considered for,
Thank you Brad, thank you for making this video and realizing the negative side of all this is really bad... Thank you for telling us 😇🙏
FUD is Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt ... also FOMO is Fear of Missing Out, which goes hand in hand with Crypto
Hi Brad, I like nfts and criptos and I agree with your take the technologies and the systems are still new and testing out against the complexity of the real world, and for that I thanks you a lot for having you genuine opinion on it, more artist needs to gave their take to feed and warn the community.