Victory Records: Cute Without The "e"

As reported by Strange Glue, Victory Records head Tony Brummel has proven controversial once more.

The label head announced this week that he was pulling his companies tracks from the digital downloads site eMusic. Citing that he didn't believe in what the service was doing, which was making downloads available for a cheaper price to music lovers. Although it's unlikely that the announcement will concern said group too much since the vast majority of them do not consider Victory's output to be music in the strictest sense of the word. Tony Brummel has raised controversy many a time in the music industry, the most memorable being his very public spate with the iTunes download service.

In February 2006, the mogul was quoted as saying "It is important for people to experience the entire album. Not just a track(s). The artist went into the studio and created a body of work. The artwork, the lyrics, the sequencing of the album typically tell a very important story. It is a work of art! If people are being conditioned to not listen to albums in this way, they are nullifying the entire musical experience. I absolutely believe that allowing people to cherry-pick the tracks they want from each album cannibalizes full-length album sales and is ultimately detrimental to the artists who created the music. iTunes makes music disposable. It makes it a faceless impulse item. It steals its soul." - We would just like to say how much we agree with this statement, and urge all like-minded peoples to support Victory Records in its passionate principled stance by heading over to their ringtones store.

A mere two months later, leaked emails show that Brummel was engaged in talks with Apple's lead man Steve Jobs, the following are some excerpts.

Tony Brummel: "I want to work with people that respect and care about our brand beyond being sent a weblink to fill out an "app[lication form]".
For Victory and iTunes to work together it should be something special.
'The #1 Independent label joins forces with iTunes'.... its a great headline/story and business. More importantly, it's a great PR campaign if people are prepared to think outside of the box and see the bigger picture here. It would be cutting edge, "anti-corporate" and revolutionary."

When this offer was declined by Jobs, Brummel responded, somewhat bitterly by saying "The majors were not thinking when they gave you their content for free without negotiating a % of each hard drive sold and/or equity in Apple or bonuses on increases in the company's valuation... Not alot changes in the music industry though, so Apple seems to be fitting right in." - Once again, we'd like to thank Brummel for standing up for artist rights in demanding publicity and a share in iPod sales.

After all, standing up for the little guy and defending the art which they create is sacrosanct to the Victory Records stable. "The artwork, the lyrics, the sequencing of the album typically tell a very important story. It is a work of art!" Consider some testimony's of Victory Records artists...

Thursday - "We had intended to make a nice booklet for the artwork [of our album] but Tony (the owner of Victory Records) would not allow that. He told us that it would be cheaper to do a 1 page insert and that the lyrics to our songs were unimportant and should be left out of the packaging... We have been deceived, bullied and compromised to an unsatisfactory end." (Thursday have left Victory Records)

Atreyu (in an e-mail to Victory Records staff) - "This is Alex from Atreyu.I would like you all to know that 'ANT'hony Brummel has been encouraging a band on your roster to take physical actions against me. In other words he told a manager that his band should personally kick my ass... DO NOT REPLY TO ME.i will never again open any email from ANYONE at Victory nor will i answer any calls from you or him." (Atreyu have left Victory Records)

Hawthorne Heights - "Due to recent events we have decided to leave Victory Records. Our departure is anything but amicable. We have decided to leave Victory, in part due to the actions of the man who sits at the head of the label, Tony Brummel. Tony Brummel is a man that cares more about his ego and bank account than the bands themselves... After selling more than 1.2 million copies of [our albums], we have never seen a single dollar in artist royalties from Victory Records. Tony will claim that we have not "recouped," a term used by those in the music business which means the label has spent more money in advertising than has been made by CD sales. In fact, questionable accounting practices are the culprit and we are in fact owed substantial amounts of money much like audits from Taking Back Sunday, Thursday and Atreyu have uncovered." (Hawthorne Heights have left Victory Records)

Now for your "moment of zen", once again provided by Mr. Brummel "I...will never sign a deal with any company that tells me, 'The deal is non-negotiable.'" (7 months before signing the standard licensing deal for the Apple iTunes store.)