News

02 Mar 2023

Here Are the Biggest Music NFTs in February as Rihanna-Linked Project Takes No. 1

February was a big month for music and NFTs. Spotify plugged into Web3 with a token-gated playlist experiment, while Def Jam Records signed a virtual band. Snoop Dogg returned with a fresh NFT drop and Rihanna fans got the chance to own streaming royalties in “Bitch Better Have My Money,” right in time for her Super Bowl halftime show — although the NFT drop was not without controversy.

Overall, crypto prices crept higher in February, with Ethereum now up 46% from the start of the year. Based on analysis of sales data from 19 different NFT platforms, independent releases combined with secondary sales volume on OpenSea, here are the 10 biggest-selling music NFTs and collections in February 2023.

1/ Rihanna – “Bitch Better Have My Money”
Monthly trading volume: $532,452
Primary sales (Feb.): $63,000
Secondary volume: 284 ETH ($469,452)
Drop date: Feb. 9

While Rihanna was making history at the Super Bowl, her music was making headlines in the NFT space. A portion of streaming royalties in her track, “Bitch Better Have My Money”, were sold via NFTs on Web3 platform Anotherblock, netting $63,000 in sales and a further $469,452 in secondary trading volume. The hype was amplified as Rihanna opened her Feb. 12 halftime set with the track, sending global streaming figures 594% higher in the week ending Feb. 16.

The NFT drop was controversial, though. It was not officially endorsed by Rihanna; instead, the royalties were unlocked through producer DEPUTY’s share in the track, and it’s unknown whether Rihanna was aware of it. The NFTs also quadrupled in value on the secondary market, shooting far beyond logical expectations for return based on the streaming calculations.

The collection was later halted on OpenSea for “promising fractional ownership and future profit based on that ownership” — something OpenSea doesn’t allow — proving that NFT projects positioning themselves purely as investments are still at risk of regulatory scrutiny. 

View the collection on OpenSea.

2/ Violetta Zironi – “Another Life”
Monthly trading volume: 167 ETH ($276,552)
Primary sales (Feb): ~110 ETH ($182,160)
Secondary volume: 57 ETH ($94,392)
Drop date: Feb. 17

After a successful genesis drop last year, singer-songwriter Violetta Zironi returned in February with a new collection, Another Life — an EP encompassing five tracks and 5,500 unique profile picture illustrations. Holders get access to virtual shows, live concerts and the ability to use the songs for their own projects. To celebrate the drop, Zironi hosted a 14-hour Twitter Spaces marathon with her community.

View the collection on OpenSea.

3/ Kids of the Apocalypse
Monthly trading volume: 10748 SOL ($243,979)
Primary sales (Feb): 6,666 SOL ($151,318)
Secondary volume: 4082 SOL ($92,661)
Drop date: Feb.. 9

Several years in the making, Kids of the Apocalypse (KOTA) is an ambitious, immersive music NFT project built on the Solana blockchain. It features graphic novel characters, dystopian storylines and a dark-pop soundtrack from veteran Swedish producer Stefan Storm, previously of pop duo Sound of Arrows. KOTA is now the biggest music NFT project on Solana, a blockchain that offers faster speeds and cheaper transaction fees than Ethereum.

View the collection on OpenSea.

4/ MyFi Studio – “Wind Tunnels” + “Circles Are Bad”
Monthly trading volume: 94.48 ETH ($156,458)
Primary sales (Feb): 70.33 ETH ($116,466)
Secondary volume: 24.15 ETH ($39,992)
Drop dates: January 2023 (“Wind Tunnels”) and February 2023 (“Circles Are Bad”)

“Wind Tunnels” and “Circles are Bad” are innovative NFT instruments that you can play and interact with in real-time. They are fully coded onto the Ethereum blockchain itself, which is a significant departure from most music NFTs, in which music is typically stored on an external server while the NFT simply contains a link to the music. “Wind Tunnels” and the follow-up drum machine project “Circles are Bad,” however, are fully coded onchain.

View the “Wind Tunnels” and “Circles Are Bad” collections on OpenSea.

5/ Shilly: The Access Pass
Monthly trading volume: 82 ETH ($135,792)
Primary sales (Feb.): N/A
Secondary volume: 82 ETH ($135,792)
Drop date: Jan. 31

Shilly — a Bored Ape that makes chaotic pop-punk records — dropped a series of access passes in January, letting the community get involved in music releases. The most exclusive pass, the Band Pass, gives fans the opportunity to work on music with Shilly and even feature on tracks. The project was incubated by Universal Music’s NFT imprint Probably a Label.

View the collection on OpenSea.

6/ KINGSHIP
Monthly trading volume: 76 ETH ($125,856)
Primary sales (Feb): N/A
Secondary volume: 76 ETH ($125,856)
Drop date: July 11, 2022

The Bored Ape supergroup was part of a new pilot experiment with Spotify in February, through which KINGSHIP Key Card holders can now access an exclusive ‘token-gated’ playlist on the streaming platform. The news triggered a fresh wave of buying activity in the KINGSHIP collection, which captured 76 ETH in volume last month. Spotify has partnered with a total of four projects in the NFT space to test the new feature.

View the collection on OpenSea.

7/ Snoop Dogg – XYZ
Monthly trading volume: 45.2 ETH ($74,851)
Primary sales (Feb): 44 ETH ($72,864)
Secondary sales: 1.2 ETH ($1,987)
Drop date: Feb. 3

Snoop Dogg returned to Web3 to capitalize on one of the biggest current trends in the space: open editions. Rather than a fixed supply of NFTs, with open editions — which are typically sold at a lower price to make them more accessible to collectors — fans can mint as many editions as they want within a set time frame. Web3 music pioneers RAC and 3LAU both dropped open editions this month, but Snoop Doog blew the doors off. The rapper sold more than 10,000 editions in a 3-day period via Sound.xyz. Snoop Dogg’s “XYZ” sold for 0.0042 ETH (about $7) each, totaling more than $70,000.

View the collection on OpenSea.

8/ Sammy Arriaga – “Metagirl (remix) featuring Nessy the Rilla”
Monthly trading volume: 30 ETH ($49,680)
Primary sales (Feb): 30 ETH ($49,680)
Secondary volume: N/A
Drop date: Feb. 25

Following in Snoop’s footsteps, independent country artist Sammy Arriaga also launched an open edition on Sound.xyz in February, aiming to beat Snoop Dogg’s 10,000 sales with a series of NFT incentives. The biggest collector will receive a special reward, while the rest will be entered into a lottery to win a valuable NFT. At the time of writing, Arriaga has generated 5,000 sales. One collector purchased more than 1,000 NFTs, briefly becoming Sound.xyz’s biggest all-time collector in terms of NFTs held.

View the collection on OpenSea.

9/ Tycho – “The Science of Patterns”
Monthly trading volume: $19,000
Primary sales: $19,000
Secondary volume: N/A
Drop date: Feb. 25

Electronic producer Tycho reissued his 20-year-old EP, The Science of Patterns, in February as a digital release for the first time. As a twist, the record is only available as an NFT through Tycho’s Web3 fan club portal. Powered by Web3 tech company Medallion, the multitrack album format is brand new to Web3, allowing fans to stream the entire album within the NFT itself, unlike previous album NFTs which simply unlocked access to music elsewhere.

10/ WVRPSound
Monthly trading volume: 11.09 ETH ($18,365)
Primary sales (Feb): N/A
Secondary volume: 11.09 ETH ($18,365)
Drop date: January 17, 2022

WVRPSound is the biggest music NFT project ever in terms of trading volume. Since launching in January 2022, the collection of AI-generated music and animated characters have earned more than 6,000 ETH in volume (approximately $7.3 million). The project recently announced plans to launch playable versions of its characters in The Sandbox metaverse.

View the collection on OpenSea.

Methodology: The chart was compiled using data from primary music NFT sales across 19 different NFT platforms, independent releases and combined with secondary volume data from OpenSea. Data was captured between Feb. 1 – Feb. 28, 2023. Conversion rates from crypto to US dollars were calculated on Feb 28.

02 Mar 2023

Sound Engineer For Club Nebula Says Travis Scott’s Punch To The Dome Landed Him In The Hospital, Allegedly

HipHopWired Featured Video
Don Toliver In Concert - New York, NY

Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty

On Wednesday (March 1), Travis Scott made news after allegedly getting into an altercation at club Nebula in New York City. And though his team says the situation was “blown out of proportion,” a sound engineer says Scott did indeed put hands on him.

TMZ is reporting that sound engineer only known as Mark, was on the receiving end of a Travis Scott knuckle sandwich to the head after Scott flipped him off for messing with the volume to his music. Apparently, the punch to the dome was enough to land Mark in the hospital. Speaking to Fox 5 News, Mark says the assault at club Nebula left him with pain from the head down.

Related Stories

Mark said he can’t turn his head and “My neck is f**ked up. My arm is tingling. I have pins and needles going down it. “He also described the events that led to the violence, saying Travis was playing the DJ music so loud the sound was distorted. When Mark tried to lower the volume, he said Travis flew into a rage.
Travis “stuck his middle finger in my face,” Mark said, adding, “So I lowered the monitor a little bit so I could talk to him, and that’s when he ran around the speaker and attacked me.”Mark’s account of the incident comes after managing partner of Club Nebula, Ritchie Romero, released a statement saying “This is blown completely out of proportion. It was a great night.” After going off in the DJ booth and attacking Mark, Scott allegedly went on to damage a speaker and TV screen to the tune of $12,000 before bouncing out of the club.
Authorities are looking to question Travis Scott about the incident. But his lawyer Mitchell Schuster says everything is “a misunderstanding being blown out of proportion by clickbait and misinformation.” Schuster says he’s currently working with law enforcement and is confident that Scott will be “cleared of any wrongdoing.”

Even if Scott doesn’t get charged with any wrongdoing don’t be surprised if Mark files a civil suit at some point.Check out video of the damage Scott allegedly caused. And let us know your thoughts on the situation in the comments section.

02 Mar 2023

Universal Music Revenues Jump 21% on Recorded Music Subscriptions, Streaming in 2022

Universal Music Group’s revenues surged 21.6% to 10.34 billion euros ($10.96 billion) for all of 2022, boosted by strong returns from recorded music subscriptions and streaming.

The world’s biggest music company reported the revenue its recorded music division gets from subscriptions and streaming rose by nearly 19% to over 5.3 billion euros ($5.6 billion), while digital revenues in its music publishing division rose by nearly 50% to over 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) in 2022, all helping it achieve a nearly 15% uptick in operating profit.

UMG chairman and chief executive Lucian Grainge said the earnings were evidence the company’s diversified revenue streams has made it an example of the music business’ steady strength amid a darkening economic outlook.

“We continue to successfully manage the company for long term growth while driving strong results in our core business — developing great artists and introducing their music to fans around the world,” said Grainge. “Our roster … achieved enormous commercial and creative success in markets around the world. We also worked to evolve and expand relationships with our existing DSP partners as well as establish new ones in fitness, health, gaming and the metaverse, driving the industry forward though leadership, creativity, innovation and collaboration.”

UMG was home to seven of the top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, 15 of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) top 20 global artists and four of Spotify’s top five global artists in 2022.

UMG reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 19.4% to 2.14 million euros ($2.26 billion) for 2022 from a year ago. Adjusted EBIDTA margin fell by 0.4 percentage points to 20.6%.

The company’s free cash flow increased by a whopping 70.2% to 638 million euros ($675 million) largely from the growth in adjusted EBITDA, according to the company’s filings.

UMG’s Earnings Highlights:

  • Revenue rose 21.6%, or 13.6% in constant currency, to 10.34 billion euros ($10.96 billion) for 2022 from 8.5 billion euros ($9 billion) in 2021
  • EBIDTA rose 20.3%, or 12.5% in constant currency, to 2.03 billion euros ($2.15 billion) in 2022 from 1.69 billion euros ($1.78 billion) in 2021
  • EBITDA margin fell to 19.6% in 2022 from 19.8% in 2021
  • Adjusted EBITDA rose 19.4%, or 11.7% in constant currency, to 2.14 billion euros ($2.26 billion) in 2022 from 1.79 billion euros ($1.93 billion) in 2021
  • Operating profit rose 14.8%, or 7.9% in constant currency, to 1.6 billion euros ($1.69 billion) in 2022 from 1.39 billion euros ($1.48 billion) in 2021
  • Net debt fell 10% to 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in 2022 from 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in 2021
  • Free cash flow rose 70.2% to 1.09 billion euros ($1.15 billion) in 2022 from 638 million euros ($675 million) in 2021

Recorded Music Division Highlights:

  • Recorded music revenue overall rose 16.3%, or 8.8% in constant currency, to 7.9 billion euros in 2022 from 6.8 billion in 2021
  • Subscriptions and streaming revenue rose 18.7%, or 9.8% in constant currency, to 5.3 billion euros in 2022 from 4.5 billion euros in 2021
  • Physical revenues rose 7.7%, or 4.1% in constant currency, to 1.2 billion euros in 2022 from 1.12 billion in 2021
  • License and other revenue rose 19.6%, or 13.4% in constant currency, to 1 billion euros in 2022 from 896 million in 2021
  • Downloads and other digital revenue rose 4%, or fell 2.9% in constant currency, to 337 million euros in 2022 compared to 324 million in 2021

Music Publishing Highlights:

  • Music publishing revenues overall rose 34.8%, 26.3% in constant currency, to 1.8 billion euros in 2022 from 1.3 billion euros in 2021
  • Performance revenues rose 24.9%, or 18.2% in constant currency, to 371 million euros in 2022 from 297 million euros in 2021
  • Synchronization revenues rose 18.6%, or 10.3% in constant currency, to 236 million euros in 2022 from 199 million euros in 2021
  • Digital revenues rose 49%, or 38.7% in constant currency, to 1.04 billion euros in 2022 from 698 million euros in 2021

02 Mar 2023

Adam Lambert Powers Through ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me’ Cover on ‘Fallon’

Adam Lambert stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night (March 1) to perform his take on Culture Club‘s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.”

Wearing a bold zebra-print suit, the American Idol alum serenaded the crowd, singing “In my heart the fire is burning/ Choose my color, find a star/ Precious people always tell me/ That’s a step, a step too far.”

Originally released by Boy George and co. in 1982 as their debut U.S. single, the new wave ballad peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and was followed by other top ten hits off Kissing to Be Clever like “Time (Clock of the Heart),” “Church of the Poison Mind” and “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya.” The following year, the band earned their first No. 1 hit with “Karma Chameleon.”

Lambert’s rendition, meanwhile, is included on his new covers album High Drama, which also features bombastic re-imaginings of Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World,” Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero,” Billie Eilish’s “Getting Older” and more.

While accepting an award at the 2023 Creative Coalition Spotlight Initiative Gala in January, the Queen + Adam Lambert singer looked back on the homophobia he faced coming off his breakthrough on Season 8 of American Idol, deciding to be “be as gay as I f—ing can be. And be flamboyant and be wild, and if it gets me into trouble, it gets me in trouble, but I’m not going to back down from it.”

Watch Lambert’s performance of “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” on Fallon above.

02 Mar 2023

The Rock, Questlove, Ariana DeBose & More Set to Present at 2023 Oscars

Ariana DeBose, who won an Oscar for best supporting actress last year for West Side Story and received even more attention recently after performing a piece of special material at the BAFTAs on Feb. 19, is set to present on this year’s Oscars on March 12. Will DeBose address the social-media brouhaha over her BAFTAs performance? Place your bets.

Other presenters include: Dwayne Johnson (The Rock), who made an appearance on last month’s Grammy Awards, meeting superfan Adele and later presenting her with the award for best pop solo performance; Janelle Monáe, who has juggled film and recording careers, finding success in both; and Questlove, who served as music supervisor of the 2021 Oscar telecast and won an Oscar last year for his directorial debut, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), which won best documentary feature.

Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Deepika Padukone, Zoe Saldaña, Donnie Yen and Troy Kotsur will also present.

Kotsur won best supporting actor last year for CODA. Last year’s best actress winner, Jessica Chastain, wasn’t included in this first batch of presenters. Last year’s best actor winner, Will Smith, was barred from attending any Academy events for 10 years after slapping Chris Rock on last year’s show.

The announcement was made on Thursday (March 2) by executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner and executive producer Molly McNearney. The producers will continue to announce talent joining the show in the run-up to the ceremony.

The producers have announced performances from four of the five nominees for best original song. The only one they haven’t yet announced is Lady Gaga performing “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick.

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 95th Oscars will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 12 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The show will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

02 Mar 2023

Ja Morant Accused Of Flashing Gun On Teen After Pickup Game Fight

HipHopWired Featured Video

Los Angeles Lakers v Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant, the high-flying superstar for the Memphis Grizzlies, is in a lot of legal hot water after facing allegations of punching a teen after a pickup basketball game. Now, new details in the case reveal that Morant allegedly flashed the teen with a handgun.

The Washington Post broke the news of new details of the case mounting against Ja Morant, and the outlet also connects the aforementioned gun-flashing incident with a string of reported negative encounters some have had with Morant and his associates.

Related Stories

New details are emerging in the case of Morant, 23, who is facing a lawsuit after admitting to hitting a teen in the face in retaliation after a pickup game at his home July 26, 2022. Now, the alleged victim, who was 17 at the time, claims that Morant flashed a handgun during their encounter.

It appears that a hard pass from the teen was tossed at Morant which struck him in the face, leading to him allegedly punching the teen. The flashing occurred after the hit according to reports. Morant reportedly told police that the teen threatened to return to the residence and “light this place up like fireworks.”

The new allegations connected to the fight emerged as a result of a lawsuit brought by the teen. Morant has been mum about the matter and the Grizzlies organization declined to comment.

Ja Morant has not been formally charged.

—

Photo: Getty

02 Mar 2023

Phoebe Bridgers Named One of ‘Time’s 2023 Women of the Year

Phoebe Bridgers has been named one of Time‘s 2023 Women of the Year alongside Quinta Brunson, Angela Bassett, Cate Blanchett and more.

The list of 12 total honorees was announced Thursday morning (March 2), with individual interviews celebrating each woman’s distinctive accomplishments posted on the publication’s website. In hers, Bridgers’ advocacy for women’s reproductive healthcare was highlighted, with the 28-year-old indie rock star recalling a moment she spotted a young fan being ushered out of a venue by her parents after she condemned the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade during a concert last year.

“I hope it makes a difference,” Bridgers said. “I hope those parents are going to lose the battle with that kid’s opinions and belief systems.”

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The “Motion Sickness” singer’s work as owner of Saddest Factory Records and one-third of supergroup Boygenius — whose debut album arrives later this month — was also spotlighted by Time, along with Bridgers’ upcoming stint of shows as an opener on Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster-crashing Eras Tour. “I try not to think about it that hard or I’ll freak out,” she confessed.

Speaking on the songwriting that earned her four Grammy nominations in 2021, Bridgers said that some of the most life-changing advice given to her came from a surprising source: Ryan Adams. In 2019, Bridgers accused the 48-year-old rock musician and label owner of being emotionally abusive and controlling, alleging instances of inappropriate sexual encounters in a New York Times exposé (details of which Adams called “misrepresented,” “exaggerated” and “outright false”).

“Strangely, well, not strangely—life is complex—Ryan Adams sent me a really long email once about how I needed to write the truth, because it’s the only thing that’s interesting about me,” Bridgers said. “The more honest I am, the world just keeps opening up for me.”

02 Mar 2023

Joe Budden Comes For Michael B. Jordan In Defense Of Black Women, Twitter’s Memory Is Long

HipHopWired Featured Video

CLOSE

Jay-Z's 40/40 Club Celebrates 18th Anniversary

Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty

Whenever Joe Budden enters the chat, you just know things can go left, rapidly. Case in point, the rapper turned podcaster criticized actor Michael B. Jordan for his now infamous encounter with Lore’l of The Morning Hustle, but his defense of a Black woman didn’t get the all-positive reaction he may have been expecting.

Budden felt that Jordan overstepped when he called out Lore’l for allegedly saying he was corny back when they were both attending the Chad Science Academy in Newark, N.J. Recently on The Joe Budden Podcast, Budden said it was Jordan who was actually corny.

“Dawg, you doing that to a girl is some corny-ni**a sh*t,” said Budden during his rant. “You being Michael B. Jordan, today, allegedly sexiest man alive, all of these blockbuster movies, during your highlight week, You’ve probably never been more visible than you are right this second. And that’s what you do to her? And if I bring back those White girl rumors, then it’s gon’ sound even crazier. Why you talking to our sisters like that on the red carpet when you don’t talk to White bitches like that?”

Now if it was most anyone else saying this, the comments would probably have been taken at face value while fostering healthy debate. However, to say that Budden’s history with women, including allegations of domestic violence, is problematic would be an understatement. And that irony is why Budden’s defense of Lore’l isn’t getting a kumbaya type of response.

Since their encounter on Feb. 23 on the Creed III red carpet, Lore’l has shared receipts that she wasn’t the one who specifically called Jordan corny. But social media doesn’t really focus on fact checks or on the whole truth.

What social media does live for is the slander. And Joe Budden has made himself a target even if he did take up a righteous cause. If you don’t believe us, peep some of the reactions in the gallery. Everyone is catching fire.

02 Mar 2023

Journey’s 10 Best Songs

Though it arrives amidst lawsuits, social media sniping and infighting, Journey is turning 50 this year.

During that half century, the group has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, logging 11 platinum-or-better albums (including Diamond certifications for 1981’s Escape and 1988’s Greatest Hits), earning eight top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 and 25 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s also been a reliable ticket-selling act for most of its career, and in 2017, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Journey’s is the story of eras. When the group originally formed in San Francisco in 1973, original manager Herbie Herbert helped bring together guitarist Neal Schon and keyboard player/vocalist Gregg Rolie from Santana, bassist Ross Valory and rhythm guitarist George Tickner from Frumious Bandersnatch and drummer Prairie Prince from The Tubes. Prince would be replaced by David Bowie/Frank Zappa skins man Aynsley Dunbar, while Tickner would leave after Journey’s self-titled first album in 1975. The remaining quartet recorded two more albums before Steve Perry came on board for 1978’s Infinity, which began the band’s run of multi-platinum smashes — also marking the first appearance of Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse’s iconic scarab logo for the band. Dunbar was replaced by Steve Smith for 1979’s Evolution, and Rolie would leave in 1980 with Jonathan Cain of The Babys joining to help elevate the band to even greater fortunes on Escape and Frontiers.

The palette has been diverse, but there are common elements among Journey’s best songs — sturdy melodies and sing-along choruses, usually leading into one of Schon’s majestic guitar solos. But within that mold there’s also been plenty of invention and clever arrangements that have never been as formulaic as some of the band’s detractors (particularly during their early ‘80s heyday) would have you believe.

Journey has gone through its fair share of lineups, with singer Arnel Pineda on board since 2007 — the longest continuous tenure of any Journey frontman. The group released Freedom, it’s first new studio album in 11 years, in 2022, and despite the current legal fractures (which you can read about in detail here), still they ride, as the Escape track says — and may they keep on runnin’ for a long time.

With all that in mind, here are our picks for Journey’s 10 best songs — not all of which come from the biggest hits.

02 Mar 2023

TikTok Faces Possible National Ban in New Bill Passed by House Committee

TikTok is one step closer to being effectively banned on mobile devices in the U.S, though an outright prohibition still faces significant hurdles.

A House committee voted along party lines on Wednesday to advance a bill to block U.S. activity on the popular Chinese-owned video app used by more than 100 million Americans. The measure was forced through by Republicans on the committee over opposition from Democrats, who said that the legislation has not been properly vetted and that it could ensnare U.S. businesses that don’t pose a national security risk.

Before the vote, it appeared that the gap between Democrats and Republicans over TikTok’s threat to the U.S. was diminishing. Democrats have increasingly been supporting measures to take action against the social media app, with the White House on Tuesday giving all federal agencies 30 days to delete the app from government devices and a member of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy calling for the separation of TikTok from its Chinese parent company. Wednesday’s vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee represents a split between both sides in the severity and speed of measures that should be taken.

Democrats, for now, are on TikTok’s side concerning a national ban. That will have to change for the bill to pass the Senate.

“Everybody knows what TikTok is,” said committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on Tuesday when the measure was being considered. “It’s too dangerous to be on our phones as members of Congress. In my judgment, it’s too dangerous to be on our childrens’ phones. That’s the whole point of this bill.”

The legislation directs the Treasury Secretary to issue a directive prohibiting Americans from engaging transactions with entities that could transfer sensitive personal data to entities directed or influenced by the Chinese government. It also empowers the President to impose sanctions on certain transactions relating to connected software applications controlled by entities that could facilitated China’s intelligence, censorship or surveillance activities, including efforts to steer U.S. policy and regulatory decisions. Under the bill, the president can waive certain sanctions and make a decision on whether TikTok or any of its affiliated companies meet the criteria for sanctions.

There’s no evidence that the Chinese government has demanded American user data from TikTok or parent company ByteDance or influenced the content users see on the platform.

In a statement, TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said that a “U.S. ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide.”

“We’re disappointed to see this rushed piece of legislation move forward, despite its considerable negative impact on the free speech rights of millions of Americans who use and love TikTok,” she added.

The bill could violate the First Amendment. In a letter sent on Monday, The American Civil Liberties Union detailed constitutional concerns with the measure.

“In a purported attempt to protect the data of U.S. persons from Chinese government acquisition, this legislation will instead limit Americans’ political discussion, artistic expression, free exchange of ideas — and even prevent people from posting cute animal videos and memes,” wrote ACLU federal policy director Christopher Anders. “While the ACLU’s opposition today rests on free speech harms, we note that with more time to review this legislation, we anticipate finding other sweeping implications.”

The ACLU also took issue with the legislation creating a loophole to the Berman Amendment, which removes the president’s authority to regulate the exchange of cultural goods between the U.S. and hostile nations. It said that the bill creates a “slippery slope” that could “leave U.S. residents without some of their favorite international books, movies, and artwork.”

TikTok in 2020 successfully argued that the former president’s effort to force a sale of the company to a U.S. firm violated the Berman Amendment.

In another case dealing with a ban on a Chinese-owned app because of national security concerns that same year, a federal judge blocked a government directive requiring Apple and Google to remove Tencent’s WeChat from their app stores. U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler found that the order could infringe on users’ First Amendment rights by making the app unusable.

Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University, told The Hollywood Reporter that “there are other ways to protect American data than to ban an app because it is foreign-owned.”

“We shouldn’t borrow the Chinese strategy of banning foreign information apps like Twitter and Facebook,” he added. “Banning TikTok would prove the Chinese right in banning our apps. The strength of our democracy is its openness.”

The US Committee on Foreign Investment, which reviews business dealing that may be a threat to national security and is empowered to force TikTok to sell to a U.S. company, is currently reviewing ByteDance’s 2017 merger of TikTok and Musical.ly. In August, TikTok proposed to permit ByteDance to continue owning the app in a deal that would silo U.S. user data and restrict access by employees in China.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.