Tuesday, August 9

London Riots Burns Independent Labels Stock


New York Times reports a Sony owned warehouse in London, home of PIAS distribution was burned down last night in the riots. PIAS is the largest distributor of independent record labels in the UK. Labels like Fat Cat, Thrill Jockey, Mute, Beggars Banquet, Def Jux, Geographic, 4AD, One Little Indian, Ninja Tune, Sub Pop, Touch & Go, XL, Young Turks, Drag City, Brainfeeder, and many more were distributed from there and in some cases have lost their entire stock. The warehouse was insured, however a lot of independent record labels rely on monthly sales just to get by and as a result of the fire many could very well go under. The Association of Independent Music UK is asking music fans to "show their support for the independent label community, and help them survive this disaster, by buying 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 whilst 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."

Resonant Filter highly recommends Boomkat, Bleep and Rough Trade in the UK for both digital and vinyl records.

God Bless Vinyl!

*Photo courtesy of Lewis Whyld

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