Within the past 24 hours, Spotify removed all albums from the Victory Records catalog, ruining workout playlists around the globe. Victory Records released a statement that can be found on our website as well as their company website.
What is interesting is that Victory Records is taking the stance that Spotify is not paying proper royalties to their artists. The relationship between Victory Records and past alumni can be described as “frigid” at best (i.e. Hawthorne Heights, Taking Back Sunday). Seeing this new development reminded me of Aiden, a Victory goth/metal/punk workhorse from 2005 until their last release with the label in 2011. In January of this year, singer Will Francis penned an open-letter to Aiden’s fans and followers with some bittersweet updates on the band and their future plans.
I asked for Will’s thoughts on Victory Records’ current showdown with Spotify and he had this to say:
I just find it funny that Victory would pull their catalog for not receiving royalties. Can we all agree that ironic is the only word we can really use here? If things are the way that they appear, then yes–‘Ironic’ would be the word.
Will is a little off here. Actually, it was Spotify’s decision to pull Victory from their service after an audit from a non-Spotify company found that Spotify owed Victory money in publishing royalties. Aiden has decided to make this go around their final one and will be releasing their last album as a free digital download on October 30th. You can check out the first single “Crawling Up From Hell” from their self-titled album below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
