Victory Records Debate: Were We One-Sided, or Did We Sugar-Coat a Dickhead?

This week’s covers story, “Hollow Victory,” as well as its accompanying story, “Victory at All Costs,” appear to have caused quite a stir among Victory fans and haters alike. Various message boards dedicated to all things punk have been flooded with comments regarding the story, which examines how Victory Records owner Tony Brummel has tainted the label’s “anti-corporate” PR with his aggressive tactics and royalty battles with some of his best-selling bands. Absolutepunk.net’s message boards boasts over 130 comments on the piece. Our favorite posting: “Frankly, I think Brummel is a marketing genius and is one of the better execs in the music world.” To which another poster responds: “Tony, why are you up so late?” Punknews.org, on the other hand, found the story “ostensibly one-sided,” since Brummel refused interview requests with Scene. One poster noted that he “would rather watch Andrei Rublev four times in a row than read all those articles,” while another commented “way to sugar coat a dickhead.” We have no idea who Andrei Rublev is, but we’re sure he’s a super fascinating guy. – Denise Grollmus