London Riots: Independent Record Labels 'Devastated' By Fire

A Sony DADC building in north London has apparently been burned down as a result of the riots. The warehouse contains the stock for more than 150 record labels.

The building was the main headquarters for PIAS, the UK's largest distributor of indie music. PIAS wrote the following statement:

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.

Reactions from those in the indie music sector has been swift, and shocked.

Norman Records, who say PIAS is their largest supplier, reported the news on their Facebook.

"Dreadful news from the rioting in London last night," they wrote. "Many of the labels like 4AD, Domino, Warp, Rock Action, Matador etc will probably have had their UK stock destroyed. Obviously this will have a massive effect on the music industry (and us). Our thoughts go out to all of those who've lost their jobs and livelihoods from this. Only time will tell what the knock on effect will be..."

Musicians Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand and James McMorrow tweeted about the fire.

"Thoughts go out to all the labels who have lost their stock in Pias fire," Kapranos wrote.

"Sony DADC burnt to the ground last night, PIAS holds it's record stock there, absolutely devastating potentially to so many indie labels," McMorrow tweeted.

The riots, which began on Aug. 6 in Tottenham, have seen multiple people injured, windows smashed, and buildings burned. Prime Minister David Cameron has said that 16,000 officers will be on the streets on Tuesday night in an effort to deal with the violence.

Photos of the fire at the Sony warehouse:

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Firefighters battle a massive blaze at the Sony distribution centre in Waltham Abbey, north of London. Violence escalated across London and at least three other cities August 9 as police fought thousands of rioters and looters and Prime Minister David Cameron headed back to Britain to face the crisis. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)

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Firefighters battle a massive blaze at the Sony distribution centre in Waltham Abbey, north of London. Violence escalated across London and at least three other cities August 9 as police fought thousands of rioters and looters and Prime Minister David Cameron headed back to Britain to face the crisis. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)

comments(102)

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Comments

[theveggiedude]

04:49 AM on 08/11/2011

So what? They didn't have a back up on the cloud yet??!!?! Serves them right, the fools.

[Havana Thinks]

09:14 AM on 08/10/2011

Sony has insurance!
Sony did not care or would have housed dvd, tapes inside fireproof vault!
I bet none of their wallets were left!

To all those who are sad----curse them out and switch to netflix!

[KevG]

11:05 AM on 08/10/2011

Oh a "fireproof vault" that holds tens of thousands of CDs! What a great idea. I'm sure we all have one of those.

Yeah, Netflix is going to really help out all those independent musicians. Idiot.

[Havana Thinks]

12:09 PM on 08/10/2011

Have you never entered a bank vault? That is where they keep your valuables, such as gold, diamonds, bonds, precious paintings, etc.

Sony is a billion dollar corporation! Now put the dots together and figure out they did not care if they left Cds, dvds unprotected from fire & water! They should have an entire floor designed as bank vault capacity for the tapes! I know it's not in the budget for every musician; + please refrain from calling me names, KevG.

If you realize the post you responded to above, was written 2 hrs ago, when I was relating to posters who complained they received notice from a Seattle co. they could not send a cd or dvd so my suggestion was to check out Netflix & curse out careless, Sony----it was tongue-in-cheek.

Sony failed those who it stored their art. But they must read their contractual liabilty for fire damage. Insurance & lawsuit are avenues they may need to pursue, if unsatisfied.

[mediadeath]

08:54 AM on 08/10/2011

A lot of hard working nice people working for independent record labels lost a lot of money and time here. This stinks.

For instance, SubPop out of Seattle estimates a loss around 300K. Yes, there's insurance but who knows how musch is covered/

The rioters are really taking down "the man" aren't they?

[Havana Thinks]

09:07 AM on 08/10/2011

Sony, would most definitely be considered "the man" ... now eat your sushi sun...

[mediadeath]

09:12 AM on 08/10/2011

There was over a 200 INDEPENDENT record labels that the warehouse stored. Now eat your mac and cheese son...

[Andrashka]

04:15 AM on 08/10/2011

Luckily there are some posters with a knowledge of the issues at hand, because the article does not explain a thing and leaves the reader totally confused....

[tyjcarter]

01:20 AM on 08/10/2011

these are some weird comments about a warehouse fire

[Jack Daniels Esq]

12:06 AM on 08/10/2011

People still buy CD/DVD ...?

[mediadeath]

08:56 AM on 08/10/2011

No the smart ones who like music buy vinyl.

[Stuzzadelic]

11:31 PM on 08/09/2011

Was this predicted by Nostradamus? "The day the music burned."

[F4G Phantom]

12:07 AM on 08/10/2011

Was your Chevy near the levee?
Was the levee moist?

[AG creative]

12:43 AM on 08/10/2011

I thought the levee was dry

[jbdrs]

01:53 AM on 08/10/2011

Nostradumass predicted that you would say that.

[dogspeed]

11:23 PM on 08/09/2011

At least crappy music won't be made for a while.

[Fantomas13]

11:13 PM on 08/09/2011

It was more than just music labels that were effected. I got an email from Network DVD, probably the biggest UK indie DVD label of British TV shows, with a huge library of titles, saying that their stock had been destroyed, so there were likely other DVD companies, as well as perhaps many other business, that had their stock, and so their cash flow, destroyed. Insurance may cover some of the stock, but the abrupt stoppage of the cash flow will likely kill a number of these small businesses, who barely squeak by as it is, before any insurance can come through. And we all know that these days the banks aren't about to let a small business have a short term laon to keep them afloat.

[Volantiad]

08:12 AM on 08/10/2011

Fantomas13, yours is the voice of reason here. I wonder if this disaster will prompt these labels to go entirely digital.

[Master Jeffrey]

10:37 PM on 08/09/2011

Umm, don't they have INSURANCE? The INVENTORY may have been "devastated" but certainly no INDUSTRY has been devastated (not by a single warehouse fire). I am disappointed that all the comments ignore the obvious fact that these companies AND the warehouse should have sufficient insurance to easily replace these items. They are not limited edition collectables. This is EXACTLY what insurance is for.

That said, arsonists are reprehensible and deserve to be punished by law. Stupidly destructive and insanely dangerous, there is never a good reason to burn down a structure outside of real war.

[triplettam]

11:02 PM on 08/09/2011

I agree with some of what you say. Not sure if insurance covers ALL WHAT WAS DESTROYED. Were all recordings destroyed cached elsewhere? Not like replacing a car.

[Master Jeffrey]

11:26 PM on 08/09/2011

WHAT?? There is NO WAY a master recording is stored in a record warehouse...the masters are valuable beyond any copy and are owned by the companies and artists, not by the DISTRIBUTOR. Maybe, MAYBE, if a record PLANT was destroyed, THEN a master recording might have been in the building at the time...but almost everything is digital - only the the most anachronistic of artists create and deliver a unique (and NON-replicatable) analog master to a record plant. That was back in Beatles and Pink Floyd days...

[Caroleeena]

11:13 PM on 08/09/2011

Tell that to the Indy artist whose only recordings are there? If they're lucky , maybe the studio will rebuild, bring them back in, and re-record, but that's unlikely. It's about more than money. It's about inventory of creative projects.

[Master Jeffrey]

11:32 PM on 08/09/2011

No one has to re-record anything! This was a warehouse! If your laptop crashes, The Beatles don't have to re-record Abbey Road for you! It's not an "inventory of creative projects"... It is the same as if a record store burned down. Here is the FIRST LINE in the (sensationalist) article:

"There was a fire last night at the SonyDADC warehouse which services the physical distribution for PIAS in the UK and Ireland"


PHYSICAL DISTROBUTION = a building full of CDs and vinyl records. Yes, it stinks for those who want their work delivered in a timely manner, but every single title in that warehouse is available for purchase RIGHT NOW from itunes and record shops all over the world (that already have them in stock).

[KriTiKiT]

10:02 PM on 08/09/2011

it seems like Rupert Murdoch, Seriously

[MaybeMilo]

09:49 PM on 08/09/2011

Do they even keep hard copies anymore?

[KriTiKiT]

10:04 PM on 08/09/2011

The masters are what is Important and Usually they are Kept in a fire proof safe.

[MaybeMilo]

11:43 PM on 08/09/2011

One sure hopes they do, indeed.

[garystartswithg]

09:46 PM on 08/09/2011

Um -- Sony is not "indie", quite the contrary.

[KriTiKiT]

10:02 PM on 08/09/2011

Once upon a time...

[kedward23]

10:04 PM on 08/09/2011

Pias is a distributor for many independent record labels in the UK who have nothing to do with Sony. They share a warehouse.The article does not state this fact.

[valkyre]

10:25 PM on 08/09/2011

oh - they should, that fact does make the article make sense.

[Tox of Oz]

09:34 PM on 08/09/2011

How ironic that they have ended up destroying the distributor of the very music they themselves would listen to.

Anyone who defends these criminals i have one question to ask. Are you fine with them attacking fire fighters who respond to these burning buildings? Because that is what is happening these thugs are attacking arguably the most selfless of society as they try to do their job in protecting life and property in an occupation that is already dangerous enough.

[garystartswithg]

09:49 PM on 08/09/2011

Mavis, you need some new talking points. How do you know what the rioters listen to? For all we know they love Bach. Do you think every copy of everything went up in flames? Have you ever heard of computers, iPods? cell phones?

[Sean 6399]

01:51 AM on 08/10/2011

Looters don't listen to Bach.

You make me weep for humanity.

[EsotericMystic]

10:34 PM on 08/09/2011

Tox of Oz

How ironic indeed - what makes you think they that they are the ones who caused or did this?

Sometime in situations like these opportunities are taken and can and will be blamed on someone who has already got a finger pointed at them.

Don't be so quick to blame fires in various areas as riot related.

[lightist]

09:15 PM on 08/09/2011

The Dilettante Detective says:

Assuming deep criminal investigation on Sony fire.

It has more than the stench of melted plastic to it.

If it's a crime it should be easy to find the culprit.