Following a recent controversy, Lee Anderton, owner of UK music gear seller Andertons Music Co. and figurehead of the shop's popular YouTube output, has issued a statement saying that he will be “declaring any personal financial interest” in products he covers on camera.
The statement follows the release of a video last week, in which YouTuber KDH highlighted what he saw as a potential conflict of interest. As KDH pointed out, Anderton is a part-owner of Victory Amps, a brand he has featured (along with many others) in demo and promo videos, without declaring his personal stake in the firm.
As KDH saw it (below), "They [Andertons] are not going to be too critical of the products that they stock – that is to be expected. But what is also expected is a level of equality among the products.
“If a store is selling three different amplifiers that are in the same price range – a Marshall, an Orange and a Victory – there’s no incentive to sell one over the other... but there absolutely is an incentive to sell one brand over the other if you co-own one of them.”
Anderton initially responded in the Instagram video you can see below, in which he said "I do accept that perhaps I could have been more open about it to the people watching our YouTube videos."
"I had no reason to lie about anything," he continued, "because I certainly don’t regret making the investment that I did when Victory started."
Now, Anderton has gone further, sending a direct statement to KDh revealing that UK regulatory body, the Advertising Standards agency had "been in touch following your video as they received three complaints about Anderton's promoting Victory amps without me disclosing my interest in the brand."
The statement continues, “The ASA have asked me to add a line in all future videos declaring any personal financial interests I have in any brands we promote, which I will start doing from today.
“They've confirmed that this action will resolve the complaints and no further action will be taken and they also confirmed that I did not have to retrospectively add this disclosure to any videos released prior to the advice.”
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