In the aftermath of the latest round of chaos in London last night, this morning it has been confirmed that PIAS Distribution, the UK’s largest independent distribution company, was burned to the ground last night in the massive Sony warehouse fire in Enfield.
There’s been no official statement released yet as to the extent of the damage, but rumours buzzing across the web suggest it’s pretty severe. Angular Records confirmed to us that their stock had been destroyed. PIAS held their entire stock on the premises, handling distribution for a huge number of independent record labels in the UK, including Ninja Tune, Rough Trade, Soul Jazz and Domino. So far Rough Trade, Chemikal Underground and Mogwai’s Rock Action label have confirmed they’ve been affected. The PIAS website is currently down (probably for obvious reasons), but a full list of the labels they distribute is posted on Drowned In Sound.
Though only one of the catalogue of events over the last three days, this is obviously likely to be a disastrous blow to independent music – and potentially especially damaging for smaller labels, who might well have been hit the hardest by losing stock in the fire.
A statement from Sony HQ in Tokyo has said that they currently "cannot determine the cause of the fire or the extent of the damage yet, because it’s not possible to enter the building", but thankfully there have been no reported injuries.
More news when we have it.
