Victory Records

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Please improve this article if you can. (July 2007)

Victory Records

Parent company	Sony BMG RED Distribution
Founder	Tony Brummel
Genre	Hardcore punk Metalcore Pop punk Post-hardcore Ska Emo
Country of origin	United States
Location	Chicago, Illinois
Official website	Official Victory website

Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It is a privately held corporation with several imprint labels, as well as a music publishing company called "Another Victory Publishing."

Founder Tony Brummel has received media attention for his criticism of Apple Computer's iTunes music download service, which he believes "makes music disposable. It makes it a faceless impulse item. It steals its soul."^[1] Currently, music by bands signed to Victory Records can be purchased on iTunes, showing that Brummel has backtracked ^[2] on this position; however, music by bands signed to Victory Records is still unavailable on the Australian iTunes.

1 History
2 Lawsuit
3 Artists
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

Originally focusing on Hardcore punk bands, Victory later shifted focus to metalcore, Indie rock, Post-Hardcore, and Pop-punk. The label has had multiple records exceeding the 250,000 sales mark, including one platinum record The Silence in Black and White by Hawthorne Heights , and three gold certified records Hawthorne Heights' If Only You Were Lonely, and Taking Back Sunday's Tell All Your Friends and Where You Want to Be.

In early 2002, 25% of the label was announced to have been sold to Universal Music Group.^[3] However later that year the deal was terminated by Victory.^[4] Victory is currently distributed by Sony BMG's RED Distribution.

This is not the same Victory Records that was owned by JVC in the early '90s.

[edit] Lawsuit

On August 7, 2006, the popular Victory-signed band Hawthorne Heights announced in a "manifesto" on their website that they were leaving the label^[5] and filed suit against it, accusing Victory of fraudulent accounting practices and "severely damag[ing] the band's reputation and relationship with their fans."^[6] Brummel allegedly issued public statements in the band's name criticizing hip-hop and singer Ne-Yo (whose CD In My Own Words was Hawthorne Heights' most prominent competition on the Billboard 200 charts),^[7] as well as urging street team members to conceal copies of Ne-Yo's CD in record stores.^[5]^[6] On September 13, 2006, Victory records countersued Hawthorne Heights, accusing the band of breach of contract and libel.^[8]^[9]

Former Victory bands Thursday and Taking Back Sunday have also had bad relationships with the label, although Thursday returned to Victory in 2007^[10]^[11] and Hawthorne Heights returned in 2008. Thursday had accused Victory of forcing them to sign to a major label (Island Def Jam in 2002) after they left Victory; a clause in their contract allegedly blocked the band from switching to another independent label. ^[12]