[PIAS] announces temporary plans for distribution clients

[PIAS] has announced interim plans for its physical product distribution clients, following the previously reported fire started during riots on Monday night which destroyed the Sony DADC distribution centre in Enfield, north London. The [PIAS] distribution business, which was housed in the facility with various other companies from across the entertainment industry, held stock for over 150 independent labels. It was confirmed yesterday that the building and all of its contents had been destroyed in the fire - Beggars Group alone losing 750,000 CDs. In a statement yesterday, [PIAS] announced that temporary plans to keep what stock was still available in the distribution chain were already in motion. The company said: "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 minimise the impact on the business, a number one priority for all labels and clients. 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".
Martin Mills told Music Week yesterday that it would take Beggars ten days to replenish its CD stock and three months to completely replace lost vinyl, and the company expected to recoup losses through insurance. However, he added that the main issue for all affected labels (especially those which may struggle to replenish stock as quickly) was what happens "while they don't have anything to sell".
Sunday Best owner Rob Da Bank told the NME: "Nothing's going to be sold for months, and I don't know what will happen. There's no way of distributing records. My back catalogues are all gone. I can't afford to get another run done for older releases. Everyone's going to have to think about the next few months. It's a reminder of how on a knife edge these things are - some labels and shops are going to be really affected by it. It just shows how precarious the indie thing is".
It's also not clear at this stage if all labels are covered by insurance, and what sort of payout they would get if they are.
Yesterday, the Association Of Independent Music has issued a statement calling on music fans to help the independent labels affected by purchasing records both digitally and physically - independent record shops are also faced with uncertainty as they do not know when they will be able to buy in new stock from affected labels.
In its statement, AIM said: "What music fans can do to show their support for the indie label community, and help them survive this disaster is to buy a digital download of an album from any one of the digital retailers in the UK, as well as going to their local record store while stocks last. This way, the labels will be able to remanufacture their CDs and vinyl more quickly, to resupply the record shops who are also affected by the riots".
The organisation's CEO and Chairmen, Alison Wenham added: "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".
Writer and musician Fion Chadd has also begun organising a fundraising event for affected labels, details of which can be found here: cognitivedissonancerecords.com/labellove/
@'CMU'