FRAGILE THING: CD2: BANNED
Obviously something went down. It's a BIG story, long and quite convoluted. I don't expect any of you to completely get it because I don't.
CIN monitor the charts on behalf of BPI and Milward Brown who publish the charts. As you know there are 3 formats permissible for the singles charts. They're various rules. No more than 20 minutes. Only 3 songs and the A side has to be on both. You can include postcards and posters but you must not have more than a single fold sleeve. I got an email on the Monday night after FT was released, from Pinnacle stating that CIN would not be including CD 2 sales in their chart computations. Why" Too many folds. I was astounded. The team when told was astonished. Too many folds? What's the problem with them and why the ruling. "You mustn't try to get the buyer into buying if the package can be used for something else or a major part in influencing them to purchase. "Rules are rules you know". "Ricky Martin had 1 second over 20 minutes on his CD but we allowed that because no-one would be persuaded to buy that because it had a extra second" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How come you can give away posters and postcards yet they are not perceived as an enticement? If rules are rules, why wasn't Ricky Martins single banned? Well, there is an organisation called CSC (Chart Supervision
Committee) and they are made up of 6 people from industry. Paul Burger is one of them and guess what, he is also chairman of Sony and Ricky is on Columbia, owned by Sony. 5ive have been making a fuss themselves this week about this problem because they would have been no 1 if Ricky M's single was not on chart. Ludicrous eh! We considered cutting out the offending cardboard bits, even those were in shops. Why were we told on the Monday of the release? Why not the week preceding release (after all they had the singles!). We could have changed them. Why the stupid rule in the first place? Why not be considerate to a new label and warn about next time? If the stores under-ordering and some not taking any with the re-orders not getting instore quickly enough was not bad enough, the stores (well HMV in particular) withdrew both copies of the CD by mistake. We were on course for Top 40. All stores I spoke and went to (20+) have said the singles "flew out". Sorry for this story. It all sounds far fetched. It's insane that they would not include the sale because of the cardboard folds.
Ian Grant
Track Records Press Release 12th August 1999
BIG COUNTRY DENIED HIT SINGLE BY LUDICROUS CIN CHART RULES
Big Country, who were set to storm back into the Top 40 single charts with "Fragile Thing" (featuring Eddi Reader), released on Monday 9th August, have had to withdraw the CD2 version from the stores as CIN have ruled that it has "one cardboard fold too many".
The CIN chart committee has ruled that the "jack-in-a-box" origami style lid of the CD2 format of "Fragile Thing" may entice the public to purchase the single for more than just the music. "After Ricky Martin was allowed to break the rules when his single was found to be one second too long this is ludicrous" storms frontman Stuart Adamson. The massive campaign for the single organised by the band's label, Track Records, has included massive support on the Radio Two play list, a full scale national newspaper and regional radio advertising campaign, rave reviews in the national press, a video on the VH1 play list and a punishing promotional schedule. Big Country performed live on BBC1's "Wicked Women" show in Hyde Park on 24th July with Kele Le Roc duetting on "Fragile Thing" alongside Ronan Keating, Emma Bunton, Martine McCutcheon (in whose band guitarist Bruce Watson also guested on the night), Lisa Stansfield and Republica. Last month they played a sold out show at London's Shepherds Bush Empire and at the special request of Jacques Villeneuve appeared at his Lucky Strike Formula 1
party. They were special guests at Rod Stewart's Hampden Park gig in Glasgow and jetted off to Nashville to film the video for the single.
On Monday this week, after CIN's ruling, retailers were asked to withdraw the CD2 cardboard version from their shelves, so that Track could cut the offending extra fold off the sleeve. Many confused retailers withdrew both the CIN approved and the "illegal" version. All of the momentum the record label had achieved was immediately scuppered.
"It's like a 'district town council' or 'planning department response. Pure, rule book 'red tape'. Is this how the 'business of music' should be run?" railed Stuart Adamson today.
