Cope established himself as a musicologist with his books "Krautrocksampler", "Japrocksampler" and "Copendium". Released in 1996, "Krautrocksampler" covers the German bands of the 1970s dubbed "krautrock" by the British music press. Reviews at the time were ecstatic, with "Rolling Stone" citing it as "a work of real passion and scholarship". "NME" agreed: "This is a superb book ... this is an extraordinary book." "Mojo" went further, writing: "Brilliantly researched, Krautrocksampler abounds with revelations, and Cope's enthusiasm verges on the lethal ... a sort of lysergic Lester Bangs." In the "Sunday Times", the reviewer wrote: "German 1970s minimalism is invading the British rock scene ... an Englishman is to blame ... Krautrocksampler is a lively history of a fascinating period, half encyclopedia, half psychedelic detective story."