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Reproduced from Music Week 8 June, 1997
Bard and BPI challenge Cook Report
Bard and the BPI have issued a challenge to Roger Cook - show us your evidence and we will take action.
The TV reporter's Cook Report begins a two-part investigation into the music business tomorrow (Tuesday, June 04), promising to reveal evidence that buying teams, retail deals and "bent" record dealers are damaging the credibility of the industry's charts.
BPI director general John Deacon promises to take action against members if any evidence raised by the programme shows they have acted wrongly. "I have spoken to Roger Cook and he has said he will pass on any information on to me."
Bard chairman Richard Wootton agrees. "Bard has a strict code of conduct which we expect our members to adhere to," he says. "We would take a very dim view of anyone breaking it." Both Deacon and Wootton also add that they would support any members wrongly accused of malpractice.
Carlton TV, which produced the show, screened a preview of the programme last Thursday. The first of the two-parter goes out tomorrow night (June 03) on ITV at 8.30pm.
In the first show, The Cook Report reveals how Debbie Currie was hired to pose as a singer and release a record in an effort to show how the charts are manipulated. However, industry reaction has centred on allegations from independent record companies, sales teams, promotions operations and pluggers that they were misled and misrepresented by the programme.
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