From HitsDailyDouble.com: Victory Records chief Tony Brummel is on the warpath regarding Apple and the company’s iTunes policies. Brummel tried to negotiate a deal with the service but was unhappy with the terms, particularly Apple’s refusal to approve a one-year term contract.
Brummel fired off another of his infamous e-mails, this one to Apple’s Alex Luke. Some of the juicier excerpts follow: “The inflexibility on your side is mind boggling. This is art, if you have not forgotten. Do you think Michelangelo punched in and out when he painted the Sistine Chapel? Music consumers would look at your tactics as worse than those employed by the major record companies. I am surprised that Apple operates in such an authoritarian manner when its public image is that of a company run by creative types.
This “take it or leave it†stance is anti-entrepreneurial, anti-creative and anti-American…My staff and my artists are asked every day why Victory’s content is not on iTunes. When the explanation is given, people understand why we are not in business together. In fact, it bothers them. The power of word of mouth is undeniable, especially in the age of the Internet. It may take awhile to resonate but when it does, people typically react accordingly…I passed an olive branch. Instead of embracing it, you whack me in the face with it. This is bad business and sets a very unfortunate precedent. iTunes is not providing the public the alternative that it claims to be.â€