p2pnet - rss feed: EMI denies manipulating charts
p2pnet.net News:- Britain’s EMI denies chart manipulation claims and says it’s never "misstated its revenues from sales" or "misreported its sales in its accounts or elsewhere".
The company is one of the Big Five record labels whose attempt to kill music it doesn’t own was successfully resisted during Grey Tuesday.
Its angry protestations follow charges made by hip-hop label Avatar that EMI breached a contract and hired consultants to inflate sales figures and force a record up the charts.
"This is a red herring attempt by Avatar to divert from a lawsuit EMI filed to recover more than a million dollars Avatar owes EMI from a former distribution deal," EMI is quoted as saying in a Reuters story here, going on:
"The New York Post, quoting a deposition in the case, reported that former EMI executive Gene Rumsey described under oath a practice whereby retailers were ‘given free copies of an album by an independent marketing company and for that (are) asked to scan the record more times than they actually sell it’."
Now, in a statement, "EMI wishes to clarify the nature of the false allegations made against EMI in connection with EMI’s suit against Avatar Records for non-payment of amounts due," it says.
"[…] The allegations relate only to the behavior of certain independent marketing consultants in respect of the manipulation of the US chart position of a limited set of recordings, as determined by the Nielsen SoundScan. EMI categorically denies these allegations."
