M+E Daily
Independent Labels Appeal to UK Consumers in Aftermath of Sony DADC Warehouse Fire
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Pick, Pack and Ship Services Could Resume ‘In the Course of Next Week,’ Says Music Distributor
The Association of Independent Music (AIM), a UK trade group, is spearheading efforts to support the dozens of record labels whose retail stock was destroyed in a Monday fire at Sony DADC’s Enfield distribution center.
The trade group has launched a consumer outreach campaign, urging music fans to purchase digital albums from independent labels while companies restore their stocks of CDs and vinyl records.
“This is a disaster for the music community, but with the fans’ help, labels and artists will survive. Please show your support for the music community by buying a digital album from an independent label today,” says Alison Wenham, AIM’s chairman and chief executive.
AIM is also offering labels a guide to the legal issues they may face to receive compensation from the fire, as well as general advice on how to maintain their businesses in the midst of continuing violence and unrest in the greater London area.
Among the 30-plus association members affected by the DADC fire are Beggars Group, Domino, Rough Trade, and Warp. These labels, in turn, are among roughly 200 labels whose CDs and vinyl records are distributed by PIAS UK, which subcontracts its distribution services with Sony DADC in Enfield.
“Sony DADC have actioned their Business Continuity Plan and are back up and running from a new control room in Enfield. PIAS continue to work with them to minimize the impact on the business, a number one priority for all our labels and clients,” the distributor said in an Aug. 9 statement. “Sony DADC have identified a temporary distribution partner and it is envisaged that they will be in a position to pick, pack and ship orders in the course of next week.”
Sony has yet to release an official assessment of the damage from the fire, but multiple published reports state that the Enfield building and all of its contents have been destroyed (see for example The CMU Website). The number of discs destroyed is believed to be in the tens of millions; The CMU Website reports that independent label group Beggars alone has lost 750,000 CDs.
Though news media have attributed the fire to the rioting that has befallen greater London since Aug. 6, the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
