'Classic FM' accuses rival BBC music magazine of fiddling circulation figures

The genteel world of classical music magazines has been disrupted by a series of fierce circulation rows between its leading rival titles.

The genteel world of classical music magazines has been disrupted by a series of fierce circulation rows between its leading rival titles.

Haymarket, publisher of Gramophone and Classic FM magazines, has accused the market leader, BBC Music Magazine, of making a 17 per cent drop in sales between 1999 and 2000 look like a 22 per cent rise.

Haymarket, owned by the former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine, has also made a formal complaint to industry monitor ABC, accusing its rival of misleading the trade press by issuing media packs with outdated information. If it is found to have contravened an industry by-law, BBC Worldwide, the magazine's publisher, will be "named and shamed" and its title excluded from next year's list of circulation figures.

Kevin Whitchurch, of Classic FM magazine, said: "At best, BBC Worldwide has made a mistake, but at worst it has been economical with the truth. This is a highly competitive market, and we are all chasing the same advertisers. Our figures are clear for all to see, and theirs should be too."

The row first erupted in February, after ABC unwittingly published statistics suggesting that BBC Music Maga- zine's circulation had leapt from 81,911 to 100,082 in a year. In reality, it had fallen by more than 20,000.

The row was quelled after ABC published corrected data, but earlier this month it flared up again when Gramophone complained about current BBC Music Magazine media packs containing 1999 sales figures rather than the less favourable ones for 2000.

The complaint is currently under investigation, despite the BBC's claim that last year's data was not available at the time the pack was initially printed and circulated. A spokesman denied there had been attempts to disguise falling circulation.