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Independent Record Labels Fear Ruinous Stock Loss In London Riots Fire
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy replied on Wed Aug 10, 2011 @ 3:57pm |
 Coolness: 106120 | Numerous independent record labels fear they have lost a catastrophic amount of stock in a fire at a distribution warehouse in north London during the riots in the capital on Monday night. A three-storey, 20,000 square-metre building in Enfield, owned by Sony DADC and holding stock to be distributed by the Pias Group, was burned to the ground.
The fire will potentially impact labels such as Domino, as well as film production companies with DVD stock. Pias is the UK's largest independent sales, marketing and distribution company. Other labels that may be affected include 4AD, Warp and Beggars Banquet. Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills confirmed his group had stock at the site, but told Music Week that he and other larger labels would be less affected by the disaster than smaller counterparts because they carried stock in other locations. Nevertheless, Mills called the latest setback for the indie sector "horrible, horrible" and added that many labels would also now face manufacturing issues to replenish destroyed stock. A statement on the Pias website read: "There was a fire last night at the SonyDADC warehouse which services the physical distribution for Pias in the UK and Ireland. Pias is working closely with SonyDADC who are implementing their emergency plans. Pias's UK offices in London and all other areas of our business are unaffected. More information will be communicated shortly to all our labels and partners." Industry analyst Paul Scaife said: "Physical retail is still absolutely crucial to many in the independent sector and if – as seems quite likely – several smaller labels aren't covered by insurers, this could be the difference between survival and going out of business." Label boss, festival promoter and DJ Rob Da Bank told the Guardian that all the stock for his company Sunday Best had burned in the blaze: "I'm furious that people are doing this, and I'm devastated for Pias and all the labels that have lost stock. But at the moment I'm more concerned with stopping this stupid behaviour from happening – at the end of the day it's just physical product that's gone, not lives or houses, so I'm trying not to get too hung up on it." Rob Da Bank said details of what exactly happened were still "scant" but Sony had called to confirm all their stock had gone. "We know Pias is insured so hopefully in terms of getting restocked we can all do that, although I can't say for definite right now if that will happen. It won't ruin us as a business, but it will be a problem for labels who need stock to sell to keep them going. For us we have a Kitty, Daisy and Lewis tour where a major source of our revenue is selling CDs and merchandise at the gigs. You look at the roll call of labels on Pias and they're some of the most important indie labels in the world. I just wish these people realised it was music they were destroying, and it's not helping anyone." A spokesperson for Domino Records said the label had lost "a large quantity" of its CD and vinyl stock in the fire. "While relieved that no one was injured in the incident, we're upset about the loss and destruction of our stock, and thinking of our friends at other independent labels who were also affected by the fire. We are currently working hard with Sony DADC to maintain our release schedule and keep business going as usual." The physical release of Arctic Monkeys' new single, The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala, is one of the first records to be affected, with limited quantities of the 7in version now only available on its planned release date (15 August) via [ arcticmonkeys.com ] The label confirmed all stock going to retail outlets had been destroyed in the fire. The release of Charlie Simpson's debut solo album, Young Pilgrim, was also severely delayed by the blaze, which destroyed all 30,000 units. Matthew Page, head of Simpson's label, said: "The album was due to be released this coming Monday. That, of course, will not happen now. It's a time issue. Our release campaign has been building for a long time, and it's like bringing the kettle to the boil, so that everything can come together at the same time. The fire has put the entire release in total jeopardy, and we feel very sorry for Charlie, who's been working on this album for a year. We're not clear what the way forward is now." Simpson himself added: ""I'm very upset and frustrated to hear that the Sony distribution warehouse was burnt down last night. Nusic Sounds & PIAS are champions for independent artists and music, I'm proud to be part of that. We will support them in any way possible through this difficult time. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the people that have had their families, homes and businesses affected by this terrible situation." Alex Kapranos of the band Franz Ferdinand, who are signed to Domino, tweeted: "Thoughts go out to all the labels who have lost their stock in Pias fire." Kapranos also questioned where the prime minister was during the looting, asking: "Where the fuck are the Bullingdon boys?.... Would you only end your holidays if it were Fortnum & Mason being looted?" Other musicians to express their views on the riots included poet and musician Scroobius Pip, who said: "This is Britain punching itself in the face. Repeatedly." Rapper MIA apparently tweeted, "im going down to the riots to hand out tea and mars bars #london", provoking anger from many of her followers before the comment subsequently appeared to be taken down from her Twitter account. The full list of labels distributed by Pias is as follows: 1234 2020 Vision Accidental Ad Altiora Adventures Close to home Alberts All City Alt Delete Ambush Reality Angular Ark ATC Atic Atlantic Jaxx Azuli B Unique Backyard Bad Sneakers Bandstock Banquet Beggars Big Chill Big Dada Big Life / Nul / Sindy Stroker Boombox Border Community Boysnoize Brille Bronzerat Brownswood Buzzin Fly Can You Feel It Catskills ChannelFly Chemikal Underground City Rockers Counter D Cypher Dance To The Radio Deceptive Def Jux Dirtee Stank Divine Comedy Domino Drag City Drive Thru Drowned in Sound Duophonic Eat Sleep / Sorepoint Electric Toaster Emfire F. Comm Fabric Faith And Hope Fantastic Plastic Fargo FatCat Feraltone Finders Keepers / Twisted Nerve Fingerlickin' Flock Free Range From The Basement Full Time Hobby Goldsoul Gronland Groove Attack Halftime Hassle Heron Hum&Haw Independiente Info UK Join Us Kartel Kensaltown Kitsune Kompakt Laughing Stock Leftroom Lex Lo Max Loose Love Box Lowlife Lucky Number Marquis Cha Cha Memphis Industry Merok Metroline Mute Naïve Nation Navigator New World Ninja Tune Nuclear Blast One Little Indian Output / People in the Sky / Process Pale Blue Palm Peacefrog PIAS Recordings PIP 555 Productions Play To Work Powerhouse (T2) Propaganda / Ho Hum Raw Canvas Red Grape Red Telephone Box Rekids Renaissance Respect Productions (PES digital) Reveal Records RMG Rock Action Roots Rough Trade Rough Trade Comps Rubyworks Ruffa Lane Search And Destroy Secret Sundaze Secretly Canadian / Jagjaguwar / Dead Oceans Sell Yourself Setanta Shatterproof Sideone Dummy Slam Dunk Smalltown Soma Something In Construction Sonar Kollectiv Soul Jazz Southern Fried Stranded Soldier Subliminal Sunday Best TARGO Taste Ten Worlds Thrill Jockey Total Fitness Touch And Go Track And Field TriTone Trouble Try Harder Turk Turnstile Twenty 20 Underworld Union Square Urban Torque Vagrant Vice Victory Wagram Wall Of Sound Warp Wi45 Wonky Atlas Word And Sound Xtra Mile You Are Here [ www.guardian.co.uk ] |
| I'm feeling shiraz right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» greatjob replied on Wed Aug 10, 2011 @ 4:04pm |
 Coolness: 282460 | Damn Mute and Warp :S |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Max_x2 replied on Wed Aug 10, 2011 @ 4:17pm |
 Coolness: 33905 | Now we see how brilliant MIA is... What a garbage! |
| I'm feeling master kush'd right now.. | |
| Good [+2]Toggle ReplyLink» Blisss replied on Wed Aug 10, 2011 @ 4:25pm |
 Coolness: 129725 | Stupid rioters |
| I'm feeling sunshine right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» v.2-1 replied on Wed Aug 10, 2011 @ 7:06pm |
 Coolness: 159125 | That's pretty bad. Although for once, labels are not wailing about piracy. |
| I'm feeling r3c0nf1gur3d right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» nodeletesucks replied on Wed Aug 10, 2011 @ 9:14pm |
 Coolness: 56025 | Woah. There's way too much labels in these that I listen.
I know a couple of label owners in these ones and most of them release a few records per year because they don't want to invest more (and it costs horribly expensive to produce) and their budget is quite limited. I hope they get well soon and they're not too much affected by this. |
| I'm feeling horny right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Nathan replied on Wed Aug 10, 2011 @ 9:38pm |
 Coolness: 166550 | I assume they might not have insurance on their stock, on top of the fact that it all has to be re-printed ... shame.
It's a really shitty situation, especially since they're all indie labels, working hard. That's the problem with rioters, they never burn down the right building :/ |
| I'm feeling you up right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» El_Presidente replied on Wed Aug 10, 2011 @ 10:53pm |
 Coolness: 299330 | Lots of people I work with got fucked because of this. Let's find the bastards |
| I'm feeling the president right now.. | |
| Bad [-1]Toggle ReplyLink» AlienZeD replied on Thu Aug 11, 2011 @ 12:30am |
 Coolness: 509565 | physical media still exists?! i thought it all went up in smoke |
| I'm feeling psyfun right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» nodeletesucks replied on Thu Aug 11, 2011 @ 1:37pm |
| Coolness: 56025 | |
| I'm feeling horny right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cutterhead replied on Mon Aug 15, 2011 @ 12:06am |
 Coolness: 131600 | as m.i.a. said . id go give em some tea and mars bars myself : dunno if its that much indy when the joint is own by sony.
imo sony (or apple for that matter) has abused the dmca in suing so many people , that lost should be their liability since sony own them and circumvented digital locks and lost the whole database. just sayin , plus who the hell put everything in the same spot , dont these people have backups ? sounds like market skam but thats my pov. not here to bash anybody but these two corps. you realise how much money soney will make from this. not only sell wise, but publicity , value , and interest wise , while playing with the dismay of these artists. as if your to internationnaly support an artist , best not tie them panties in one bunch (sorry im drifting) but at the very least youd expect another warehouse at the other end of the globe that has a master copy , mother or father print somewhere ... like a metal mother would melt down i doupt much. what they had mats everywhere in that warehouse ??? id sue them for liability , as they didnt take the proper steps of an internationnal compagny ; its blanttantly cutting on price , using a single nationnal location when they have millions to be everywhere . im sorry i thought that was the idea of an real multinationnal cartel. esp when you make 80% of the artist incom , best you take proper steps to lock things up proper. |
| I'm feeling "god is(i)n`the tv" right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» fishead replied on Mon Aug 15, 2011 @ 1:44am |
 Coolness: 75675 | Cutterhead - we're not talking masters and such, we're talking physical stock; in some cases entire label back-catalogs. With the number of distributors shrinking over the past few years, there are only so many places that labels without the means to distributor their wares can turn to in order to service retail outlets, and a single distribution center serving a territory is far from abnormal.
Think what you want about Sony (I'm no fan of them either), but it's quite possible that PIAS was merely leasing or renting space in a warehouse that was already in the business of music distribution... anyhow, I'm not sure if masters were lost, but losing 30,000 copies of a record that was due to be shipping out that week is a lot for a label to absorb... even if insurance will cover the losses (and there's no guarantee of that), it won't compensate for the lost sales while titles are simply unavailable in a physical format. |
| I'm feeling new records right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» cutterhead replied on Mon Aug 15, 2011 @ 3:37am |
| Coolness: 131600 | yea i know you guise talk about stock , but wax isnt worth much compared to a master mother that will eventually stamp some 15,000 copies each. even more a master that will make mother for the stampers.
now were are talking about a major warehouse here , not (sorry jello) alternative tentacles as an "assuming they are not the same size financialy wise" , so that being covered i can now stat better what i first meant ; they represent an international distribution , shure five rose will carry one spot , rafineries will prolly have one major plant. but will ALWAYs have a fallback stock somewhere . who would insure a compagny that stock all their cash under one pillow ? now what i mean by all this they are a format distribution , or medium hoarder whatever , if id run a software compagny , and beleive me they all do this , they stock masters safely in safe storage in different locations .esp to hopefully dodge any worse case senario act of god and be back on track before their neibour can , thats internationnal competition , to me this scream local scam small compagny that wants its stock unable to sell bought by the insurace compagny indirecly while single handedly making a big publicity stunt in the process creating rarety and fake demands over shortage of storage witch i highly doupt is done by some absobloodlylutly pissed up brits. shit even ninja tune have more than one location and this is a way larger compagny . it smells worse than old shellack imo. format compagny not having more than a stockhouse is ridiculous, if they where stupid enought not to think of that first off the bat they are liable and hopefully learn how not to be stupid with investment in the future imo, that is if the administrators arent moving to dubai over lack of faith from future sells of the medium from panasonic threats of stoping analog tables productions . anybody stocking under sony warehouse should get payed back for stock lended and lost , complete liability , why have security at the gate if not , , if sony doesnt take liability it just states how backstabing that compagny is . plus we all know how distribution contract are more than anything to scam ppl and artist. so storing my lps over there i would difinitely have them pay their % . why is it such a case suddently . what if a typhoon like in japan hit them , their an island too, so whats all that fuss about , nobody realised shit could actually happen. think of it. Update » cutterhead wrote on Mon Aug 15, 2011 @ 4:00am with A three-storey, 20,000 square-metre lot , i would definitely sock one "act of god failsafe" single-storey 6,666 square-meter one elsewhere . just in case. cause a few millions stockhouse would make me definitely think of it. |
| I'm feeling "god is(i)n`the tv" right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» ONE.LAB.RAT replied on Mon Aug 15, 2011 @ 3:17pm |
 Coolness: 76145 | that sucks! |
| I'm feeling sick of it all right now.. | |
Independent Record Labels Fear Ruinous Stock Loss In London Riots Fire
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