A couple of months later (on 15 May) Danny received a threatening email from Surface Unsigned which worried him. After a weekend of checking that CiB had done nothing wrong, the original post was amended and an addendum was posted.

Danny blogged about it, then Pete blogged and I blogged. Then a lovely thing happened – the blogging community of Birmingham showed their support. As ever, BiNS and D’Log were quick on the scene.

Cat Bray was amused. Russ L made me laugh. Goodfaf Central chipped in. Birmingham Alive put up a banner. Simon Gray posted on his blog and on The Stirrer forum where an interview with Surface was promised ’soon’ (as if that forum and the comments section of an increasing number of blog posts didn’t give them enough space to reply/apologise).

And the blog posts did increase, with contributions from Brenda Dada, Bobbie Gardner, Si Hammond, Mabblog, The Careless Gene (aw, one of my faves), Graphiquillan, Art Stalking Ana and New Folder. Andrew Dubber pondered pay-to-play on New Music Strategies while Antonio Roberts got visual.

Dave Harte got forensic on his Birmingham Post blog, revealing who was behind Surface, shortly before the interview on The Stirrer appeared with the representative of Surface asking not to be identified (hello to Jay, probably). The interview discussed pay-to-play but not sending unnecessarily aggressive emails. Dave Harte cross-posted to his own blog, where dp wisely commented that

it’s interesting watching this thing unfold, partly because it’s going through phases, where the first reaction was indignation, then organised criticism, then more reflective stuff

Widening the social media net, several people tagged the story on delicious including Joanna Geary and Catnip, who deployed the word ‘nastygram’ to devastating effect.

Then things started moving away from Birmingham. First to Oxford (OxfordBands), then Yorkshire (fictions) and then on to the national music site Culturedeluxe.

By the end of the day Danny was feeling much happier.

But it didn’t stop there, with Ben Neal (who once played at Surface) saying hi. The Getgood Guide got with the LOLspeak. Stef examined what Surface should perhaps have done (executive summary – anything but what they did) and even the Daily Mirror’s forum received the good news. Paul Thewlis threw a link in, as did Who Knows Where Thoughts Come From. Dunc from the Autumn Store says we don’t need battle-of-the-band contests.

And so on.

Today’s the day we’re supposed to take down the original post. We’re not going to, obviously – Danny’s still not even received an apology.

However, as far as CiB’s concerned I intend to draw a line under the matter with this post (the comments are still open of course). It’s been fun but we’ve made our point. I for one would rather turn my attention to the many positive things happening in Birmingham (although every time I Google ‘Surface Unsigned’ I stare hungrily at all the forums that appear).

I’d just like to say thanks to those who have offered support, kind words and legal advice over the past few days. You’re beautiful people.