Shaggy’s chart-topping hit It Wasn’t Me wasn’t supposed to go any further than the middle of an album immediately abandoned by a record label.

Not intended to be a single, and not graced with a traditional major label launch campaign, the song went from unknown to international number 1 because of the support of one passionate fan.

DJ Pablo Sato discovered It Wasn’t Me before anyone else: an obscure track on an obscure album, found on the file-sharing service Napster. Hooked by the song’s groove yet unable to get an official press copy from a reluctant record label, Sato played it on his radio show from his bootlegged mp3.

His listeners loved it, and It Wasn’t Me went from a forgotten song to a viral, underground hit. Soon, it was an international number one, and reinvigorated Shaggy’s career.

Sato’s role went unrecognized.

Pablo Sato is not the only person whose grassroots support changed the fortunes of someone else’s art. Music writers, art critics, film reviewers, YouTube gadget reviewers & makeup TikTokers are all gate-openers; integral to the success of the work they’re sharing yet rarely recognized alongside traditional marketing & advertising companies.

It’s time to change that.

New technological tools like Zora’s Auction Houses center the role of curators, and allow them to fully participate in the cultural narratives that their work seeds.