TOTP chief says top 40 has lost "credibility"

A senior programme maker behind Top of the Pops says the UK singles chart is "controlled by record companies".

Executive producer and director Chris Cowey says the chart does not actually list the most popular songs in the country.

He adds that the Official Top 40 hasn't got "credibility" and is "often full of crap".

Cowey is credited with turning the show around since his arrival in 1997.

He told the Financial Times: "Top of the Pops is successful in spite of the Top 40 chart, not because of it."

Most singles which make it into the Top 10 do so because their record companies have used "clever marketing practices" and "not because they are popular", he says.

"One week a record will be there because it is being sold at a discount and the next it's out of the chart because they've raised the price.

"There's so much great music around and people are listening to it, but the charts are often full of crap.

"The Top 40 hasn't got credibility."

The Official UK Singles Chart is compiled by the Official UK Charts Company, co-owned by the British Association of Record Dealers and industry trade body the BPI.