Mixmash Records and Beatport Spar Over “S.A.X.”

The ethics of music charts has been called into question, as Mixmash Records‘ track “S.A.X.” by Laidback Luke and Tujamo was removed from the Beatport chart after reaching the #1 spot. The spat began when the online music store decided to remove the track from Beatport after Mixmash announced that they would refund the cost of the track to anyone who sent their Beatport receipt for the track to an email address created by the label.

Beatport claimed that the practice violated the terms of service for the chart, saying:

“While conducted in the open from a reputable label with no history of artificially influencing sales, the campaign impacted Beatport policies regarding chart eligibility. Out of fairness to other labels, Beatport had no choice but to remove the track from the store as a result. The decision to remove the track in question was not to punish Mixmash Records, Laidback Luke, or Tujamo, nor should it be seen as an accusation of any wrongdoing against any of the parties involved. The track was re-added shortly after with a new track ID to reset the chart position.”

The label responded by posting a graphic of the track’s progress on Beatport, and emphasized that only 33 users asked to refund the $2.49 charge for an MP3 file.

MIxmash Records’ graphic of the status of “S.A.X.” on Beatport

Label boss Laidback Luke voiced his opinion on the penalty as well, saying:

“I am disappointed that my latest single is being penalized, but look forward to the discussion it will hopefully create on new ways of promoting music for the future & how they should be treated.”

What do you think? Should Laidback Luke and Tujamo be punished, or did Beatport do the right thing?