PIAS Distribution Warehouse burns down

For anyone who is a fan of independent music, this is really some shocking news indeed. From the Guardian:

"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.

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.""

It's only when you see the extent of all the record labels affected that you realise how catastrophic this situation really is. Great labels such as Angular, Domino, Chemikal Underground, Full Time Hobby, Kitsune, Memphis Industry, One Little Indian & Warp Records depend on PIAS for the distribution of their records, and to see the works of so many great artists on so many great labels go up in flames is heartbreaking indeed. It would be a shame if this turn of events led to the closure of just one of these fantastic labels.

If you want to do your bit to support any of the artists who have been affected by the fire, you can find a list of affected labels on the link above. If you take the time to buy just one album by one of the affected labels, then you will be doing your bit to prevent some of our great musical instututions from going out of business.