Tony Brummel: "iTunes steals music's soul"

Indie heavyweight Tony Brummel of Victory Records has weighed in on the impact of Apple's iTunes service and his view on the potential impact it has.

The always outspoken label boss discussed why he refuses to license any of Victory's music to the download service:

It is important for people to experience the entire album. Not just a track(s). The artist went into the studio and created a body of work.

The artwork, the lyrics, the sequencing of the album typically tell a very important story. It is a work of art! If people are being conditioned to not listen to albums in this way, they are nullifying the entire musical experience...at least in our genre as a rock label. As the owner of a label, my favorite tracks are never the singles! Often, it is the most esoteric songs on the album that have the most depth and meaning (musically and lyrically), and you typically are not exposed to that song until you have played the album through 15-20 times. Great songs take time to sink in and you have to be exposed to them in order to make that happen.

I absolutely believe that allowing people to cherry-pick the tracks they want from each album cannibalizes full-length album sales and is ultimately detrimental to the artists who created the music.

iTunes makes music disposable. It makes it a faceless impulse item. It steals its soul.

Later this month, the label will release the second full length from Hawthorne Heights to retail only. The highly anticipated album follows the massive selling Silence in Black and White.