Last week an email surfaced from Victory Records' street team director that encouraged kids to purposely misplace the CDs by Def Jam artist Ne-Yo while performing stock checks on the new Hawthorne Heights CD in stores around the country. President Tony Brummel is on the record as saying the email from street team director Abby Valentine was "a joke." Here's what he told Billboard's Todd Martens:

"It was absolutely a joke. We need people in stores buying every record possible by artists of all genres. No one associated with us is doing anything at retail that they shouldn't be. You will not find Victory's music on iTunes, and that is because we believe in retail, which we prove day in and day out."

A very nice, by-the-book denial, but it's just not believable. The instructions laid out in Valentine's email are simply too plausible in the competitive world of street marketing. And Victory is a competitive label that wants a #1 record. What do its current cable TV spots say? Down with corporate rock, support real music.

Martens quotes a legal expert about possible repurcussions. "If true, these are outlandish, illegitimate sales tactics that will likely lead to legal liability for Victory Records if the recipients read it and follow the instructions,"