We found the blog New Music Strategies through Hypebot the other day, and so did Paul Birch, who works at Revolver Records and sits on the board of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the global body that represents record companies’ interests, and the British Phonographic Industry, the RIAA’s British analogue. Judging by an e-mail exchange between Birch and NMS proprietor Andrew Dubber, a senior lecturer and researcher at UCE Birmingham in the UK, it seems like Dubber’s merely linking to a Download Squad post about a lawsuit against the RIAA is an action that should be punished. The whole exchange is worth reading if only to see more evidence of how people in the upper echelons of the record industry should get PR crisis training ASAP, but we’ll give you the gist by quoting the final piece of the exchange:

Andrew

[The blog post you linked to] expresses opinion, it’s not factual. If you persist then I shall make a formal complaint to the University.

Your choice.

Paul

Yes, that’s right: “Be nice to us, or we’ll try to get you fired.” And this comes after Birch said, “People don’t have to download; they do however have to work.” Classy, no?

An IFPI & BPI Board Member Writes… [New Music Strategies]