PIAS REACTION: NORMAN RECORDS & FATCAT RECORDS
Everyone was shocked by recent events in London, and those involved in independent music were even more shocked to hear about the by now well known Sony DADC/PIAS fire. Recent reports of the incident being a professional robbery have been discounted but interest in the situation is still very strong, as the establishment of a number of fund raising events and awareness groups (such as Label Love) continues to grow.
Representatives of companies affected by the event were contacted by Fluid over the past few weeks to give us some brief thoughts on how they think it may affect both them and the industry. Given the circumstances, not all have had the time or inclination to comment; we give our thanks to those who have thus far, and if any others are interested in having their views put forward we are happy to hear from them.
The motivation for running this article is to try to support those affected by drawing attention to it, and also the hope that those involved in the arson may perhaps read it and see the repercussions of their actions. A vain hope, perhaps, but it was the thought that propelled us.
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Phil from Norman Records in Leeds gave us his thoughts -
What are the direct implications for retailers in the UK as a result of this?
Phil: Well, essentially over 12000 titles have just been deleted so there’s a massive back catalogue of records which has been destroyed. So that’s a lot less titles for shops to stock. Some of those titles will be restocked (from the US labels they carry), some of the UK labels will repress certain titles but realistically I can only image say 10% (max) of those lines coming back in. PIAS are the largest distributor of independent music in the UK. They carry some of the biggest indie labels (Rough Trade, Warp, Matador, XL, 4AD, Soul Jazz, etc) so shops will suffer, as they’ll have a lot less to sell for the time being. I can’t imagine them repressing a lot of the titles due to a decline in physical sales. Also it happening in August isn’t a great time as it’s the quietest month in the year.
How does the situation affect your store directly?
Phil: Mainly the above! There’s less titles we can stock so there’s less titles we can sell. It’s also been a very quiet summer so we rely on those titles to some degree.
What do you see being the implications for the wider music industry in the UK, both short term and long term?
Phil: Well, I think a lot of the smaller labels will really struggle.
Even if they’re insured they’ll have problems as you rely on a turnover of cash coming in to pay for forthcoming releases and that has been wiped out. Having said that, the insurance money could pay for titles which haven’t sold very well and that money can be ploughed into new exciting projects. I guess that would vary from label to label.
From what I can gather, PIAS & Sony DADC have an action plan together which means key titles are being repressed right now which will help some stores. I do wonder how the smaller labels will cope. The bigger, more affluent labels should be fine, I do however think there will be some casualties. A lot of it hinges on whether or not labels are insured or not and I’ve no idea which ones are (or if they all are) and whether or not the insurance companies will pay out.
I suspect it will help digital sales for the time being but physical will bounce back as it’s deeply entrenched in independent music. In the long term though I (personally) don’t think it will make too much difference except we’ll lose some labels and some shops, which is obviously bad for the industry. I don’t think it’s going to destroy the independent music industry though like some people are saying.
Is the best way for people to help the affected parties voting with their wallets?
Phil: Buy from indie stores and buy digital from the labels that have been affected. A lot of people have been saying buy digital from the affected labels but if you don’t buy from indie stores then that has a knock on effect with labels and distributors and everyone goes down. It’s a delicate balance which needs to be maintained.
It’s important that people buy from indie stores so they can re order the repressed stock as if everyone buys the download then when the repressed stock arrives indie stores won’t buy it as they’ll have the originals still in stock!! But if you can’t find a physical copy then go for download and support the labels!
Does this directly affect the viability of your business? If so, in what way?
Phil: Yeah, we’ll struggle for a while but we deal with lots of distributors, labels and artists so we don’t just rely on one source. We’ll still continue though for as long as people want to buy records from us. I’ve been doing this for 15 years now and I have no intention of stopping (though it drives me mental sometimes).
Is the general consumer aware of the situation? Are people discussing it with you?
Phil: I think a lot of our customers know what’s going on as we’re getting emails from it (all supportive I might add) so there is a definite public awareness, which you can thank the internet for. We are getting people concerned about their orders (some of which will be delayed and some titles we’ve had to cancel as we don’t think they’ll be repressed).
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Tones Sansom, head of press at One Little Indian and FatCat also gave us the label’s perspective on events:
What are the short term and long term implications for the UK music industry with such a loss, in your view?
TS: In the short term the bigger labels may find their supply to retail disrupted, but the smaller indies will be hit hardest as their manufacturing costs are likely to have extended their credit terms to the limit. The wait for insurance and the lack of funds to remanufacture will undoubtedly hit them hard. Our best wishes go out to all the other label affected, especially the smaller labels that are bound to be hit hardest.
How long does it take to replace stock when things like this happen?
TS: We are obviously having to re-manufacture key catalogue titles – although we do have some limited stock in our own warehouse to tide us over – and immediately upcoming September releases and are talking to PIAS about how things will work moving forward.
How does this alter the way the label runs for the foreseeable future?
TS: Although all stock held at Song DAC has been lost OLI is possibly in a more fortunate position than many as August is a quiet month release wise – the physical release of Astrid Williamson’s ‘Pulse’ will be delayed by a week, although the digital will go ahead on 22nd August. The release of Bjork’s new album ‘Biophillia’ on the 26th September will not be affected.
What is the best way for people to support the label and your roster?
TS: You can support all the labels affected by buying online, our webshops are at www.indian.co.uk and www.fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/
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- Compiled by Alex Gibson, Charles Sage and Daniel Crossley for Fluid Radio.
