Among the hundreds of indie labels that lost tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars in merchandice in the weekend’s SONY/PIAS warehouse fire in London, legendary imprint WARP Records is now reporting that most of their 21 year backstock was destroyed. In a statement issued on their website, the label explained the current status of upcoming releases by CANT, Plaid and Battles. More concerning was the reality that some old releases—classic electronic music from Aphex Twin, Autechre, Broadcast and hundreds of other—my never be available in physical form again.
Other beloved labels similarly effected include 4AD, Ninja Tune and Domino. An emergency fund has been set up to help all of the indie labels recover from this devistating blow.
You can read the full statement from WARP after the jump.
All of Warp’s UK stock appears to have been lost in the fire. The Sony DADC warehouse also acted as our international distribution hub and so this has affected our ability to supply our overseas partners.
Forthcoming albums – CANT’s ‘Dreams Come True’ (Sep 12th), Plaid’s ‘Scintilli’ (Sept 26th) and Rustie’s ‘Glass Swords’ (Oct 10th) – are currently being manufactured. We know PIAS are working hard to get alternative distribution in place and we are hopeful that the release dates of these albums will not be affected. Most UK copies of Battles’ new single ‘My Machines’ have been destroyed, although the single will still be released digitally on Monday – with some limited 12inch stock available at Bleep
The biggest challenge for us is replacing Warp’s extensive back catalogue spanning the last 21 years. We will replace as much of this as we can by creating new stock and replenishing where possible with stock from outside the UK. Unfortunately some releases may never be available physically again.
We will be closely supporting PIAS in their efforts to get the independent music community up and running as quickly as they can.
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That was an interesting read! I would love to read more posts from you ^^b Bookmarked this page =]…
[...] sure what’s up with the physical release after WARP Records announced that their stock was destroyed in the London riots last week. But that isn’t stopping label mainstays Plaid from taking full advantage of the [...]
Where’s the full statement? You retards can’t write.