Relations with label Victory Records has had some negative relations with artists signed to the label. Over the years, multiple bands have cited grievances, conflicts, or filed lawsuits against the record label, while others have stayed with record label for years, or even came back to Victory after releasing albums on different labels. Former Victory band
Thursday has had a conflict with the label, citing issues with royalties. The band also cited an incident involving the Victory Records marketing staff producing whoopie cushions for the promotion of their 2001 album
Full Collapse, against their wishes. Thursday stated in the DVD accompanying their compilation album
Kill the House Lights that they chose to go to a major label (
Island Def Jam in 2002) and after fulfilling their contract, Tony Brummel and Victory Records welcomed Thursday "back with open arms." On July 12, 2015,
Wil Francis of Horror Punk band
Aiden posted on their official Facebook that they sold 500,000 albums total through Victory Records and were not paid. Despite the controversy, relations between Victory Records and its bands have not been all negative.
Close Your Eyes and
Ill Niño have mentioned positive relations multiple times in interview. Emmure has said specifically "Victory does good business, and if you're a band that is expecting more than what you get, then you're going to feel cheated and robbed."
Hawthorne Heights lawsuit On August 7, 2006, the Victory-signed band
Hawthorne Heights announced in a "manifesto" on their website that they were leaving the label and filed a lawsuit accusing Victory of fraudulent accounting practices and for "severely damag[ing] the band's reputation and relationship with their fans." Brummel allegedly issued public statements in the band's name criticizing hip-hop singer
Ne-Yo (whose CD
In My Own Words was Hawthorne Heights' most prominent competition on the
Billboard 200 charts), as well as urging fans and
street team members to conceal copies of Ne-Yo's CD in record stores to sabotage his sales. In October 2006, a Chicago judge dismissed two of the three main claims in the band's suit, ruling that the trademark and copyright violation allegations were unfounded. The judge later reaffirmed this ruling on May 17, 2007, stating that Hawthorne Heights is still contractually bound to deliver two albums to Victory, but may record albums which are released elsewhere. In January 2008, Victory filed a lawsuit against
Virgin/EMI Records alleging that "Virgin/EMI improperly induced platinum-selling band Hawthorne Heights to repudiate its contract with top independent label Victory Records", including allegations that Virgin/EMI funded the initial phase of Hawthorne Heights' lawsuit against Victory. The suit sought actual damages of $10M and
punitive damages of $25M.
A Day to Remember lawsuit On December 15, 2011, it was announced that metalcore band
A Day to Remember planned on filing a civil action against the label for
breach of contract. Legal action was reportedly initiated on May 31 of that year, in which the band claimed that Victory owed them over $75,000 in royalties. Victory Records has said, on their behalf, that the lawsuit is actually about the band's refusal to fulfill their five-album contractual commitment to Victory and their newfound desire to move to a major label. On October 5, 2013, news outlets reported that
A Day to Remember had been given permission to self-release their new album
Common Courtesy without any involvement from Victory. The album was released digitally on October 8, 2013. Victory and the band released statements in response to the court ruling. On November 26, 2016, A Day to Remember won the lawsuit against Victory Records. The band was given $4.02 million and won three of the four issues they were suing Victory for fulfilling the band's contract, controlling the band's publishing, and digital royalty withheld from the band. Victory won the band's master recordings.
Design the Skyline criticism Beginning in May 2011, the label was widely criticized for signing groups perceived as inferior to many of the bands they signed in the past. Some bloggers called
Design the Skyline "the worst band ever." Although Victory refused to comment on the signing, they continued to promote the band regardless of the criticism. The band however, did comment on their controversy, stating; "We really don't mind. We can honestly see why people give us negative feedback for one, the way we look and the fact that we got signed to a mainly hardcore metal label with just one song; we stick out like a sore thumb. And not to mention how young we are."
Streetlight Manifesto lawsuit Ska-punk group
Streetlight Manifesto has had numerous conflicts and has a generally poor relationship with Victory Records. The band left the label after their album
The Hands That Thieve. In February 2012, Streetlight Manifesto went so far as to request that their fans boycott the band's own music and other items from the Victory record label's online store. On October 20, 2015, media outlets reported of a $1,000,000 lawsuit filed by Victory Records against lead vocalist
Tomas Kalnoky. The lawsuit was filed in regard to the band not fulfilling their record deal of four studio albums to be released under Victory. The band released five albums while on the label, however Victory claims that
"... the band agreed not to count this album as one of the four albums under its contract to receive a $10,000 emergency advance." Victory also claims that the band's album
99 Songs of Revolution: Vol. 1 does not count towards the contract due to it being a covers album. On April 19, 2017, the band announced on their social media pages that a settlement had been reached with Victory Records. As part of the settlement, Victory Records sold all Streetlight Manifesto master tapes back to the band. == Artists ==