Pete Ashton reports on threats arising from intelligent blog coverage of the Surface ‘battle-of-the-bands’ in Birmingham. Apparently, it’s a no-no, in the eyes of the scheme’s promoters, for a blog posting to specify how part of the scheme works — in the form of a fair-use quote from what are allegedly the Surface terms & conditions…

“As you must bring with you at least 25 people to your event you must sell at least 25 tickets for each round you play. If you do not sell 25 tickets you will still be allowed to play however you will NOT progress to the next round no matter how many Surface Ratings you receive.”

It’s perhaps notable that the above terms don’t appear to be available on the current Surface website. Although to be fair to Surface, it appears that… “There is no longer a registration fee”. And, again according to their current FAQ, there may also be some eventual reimbursement of money from those 25 x £6 tickets sold per gig…

Do I get paid for the gigs I play?
“Yes, if your band fulfills the requirements of the Festival your band receives a percentage of the tickets you sell.”

Although what the “requirements of the Festival” and “percentage” might mean in practice is left open by the FAQ.

Pete has the full story, and a wide-open comments box.