Last month Victory Records took a stand against Spotify in claiming that an audit done by independent organization Audiam found that the streaming service owed the label money (about $23,000) for a large number of streams. Spotify reacted by pulling the label’s entire catalog, including some artists that weren’t even associated with Victory. While Spotify told the International Business Times they were “working to solve” the dispute, as of now, the music is still off the service, and it’s hurting Victory to the point where a leaked internal memo from owner Tony Brummel suggests that they might have to start laying off employees and cutting artists as a result:
Victory Records founder Tony Brummel says that unless his label’s catalog is placed back on Spotify soon, he will be forced to begin laying off staff and dropping artists. “They are over 70 percent of our monthly digital sales,” Brummel wrote in an email circulated to undisclosed recipients Friday. “Sorry to curse but in a few months — I am f—ed.”
This is unfortunate. As much of a blowhard as Brummel might have seemed in the past, it would appear that he’s in the right here. And the article brings up the fact that it’s not simply a matter of restoring Victory’s catalog and paying what they owe him, but making sure that all of the historical data is there. It’s much easier for a user to search artists using historical streaming data, and with the streams reset to zero, that puts Victory at a disadvantage. It’d be a shame to see Victory have to let anyone got as a result of this, but if 70% of their income comes from Spotify, it’s a legitimate problem if this continues to happen.
[via Metal Sucks]
