Exclusive: official first statement on Britain’s Got Talent overdub scandal

A statement by Bond’s representatives will be issued later today on the overdub scandal. No response has yet been forthcoming from the alleged perpetrators.

Here’s the statement:

BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT VIOLINIST “PLAYS ALONG” TO BOND TRACK

9 MAY 2011

The original electric string quartet, BOND, which has sold almost 5 million albums worldwide, has made a complaint to TalkBack.

Electric violinist, Alexandra Parker, chose to perform one of BOND’s tracks, Gypsy Rhapsody (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dKpKIG9hgY), from the quartet’s best-selling album, Shine. Instead of ‘covering’ the track in the acceptable way (in this context, by creating and playing live over a backing track), Britain’s Got Talent simply broadcast BOND’s original album track whilst the BGT entrant seemed to “play along” on the clip aired to the public on Saturday’s show.

Says BOND’s manager, Terri Robson, “copyright, moral and legal issues aside, it is a questionable practice to mislead the public in this way. It could be compared to a violinist performing along to Nigel Kennedy’s recording of the Four Seasons and claiming it as their own interpretation or a singer singing along to a Girls Aloud track.”

The BGT violinist has further chosen to exploit BOND’s music by commercially marketing herself on her website. www.femaleviolinist.co.uk features a section showcasing the musician’s tracks. ”Have a listen to my music in the player below”, is followed by 3 Bond tracks, recorded and marketed throughout the world at great expense by Decca/Universal; again, Alexandra Parker ‘plays over’ the tracks. The violinist has also posted clips on YouTube of herself playing along to BOND tracks at various corporate events.

Adds Robson, “we have politely requested that Ms Parker remove these tracks from her website and to desist in exploiting BOND’s music in this way but have, as yet, received no response.”

BOND violinist, Eos Chater, meanwhile, began tweeting furiously on the subject once she heard her own playing being used by the television company in this way. Says Eos, “we get many messages from string players asking for tips and always encourage them, giving them advice on playing and the music industry. People often send clips of themselves covering one of our tracks and it’s very touching. What I take exception to is a commercial TV show playing our recording, with a musician playing along (not even playing the tune) at a level quieter than our CD. Still, we’re glad BOND has got through to the next round of BGT without ever having to appear on it.”

‘sexy violinist’ Alexandra Parker, from The Sun