Record label companies in the United States are now facing another dilemma after online shopping company Amazon refused to ship record vinyl and CDs to customers. Amazon is now taking precautions due to the recent pandemic. The suspension, however, is temporary, but it takes effect until further notice.
Amazon announced the suspension of shipments for some discretionary items until April 5. The suspension is for Amazon to protect its inflow. The record labels have been replaced by medical supplies and sanitation kits, which today are out of stock in physical stores like supermarkets. Amazon also mentions in its statement that they urge their clients to stop sending them anything until further notice, according to reports from Rolling Stone and Variety.
Aside from music-related products, other products that are coming into the company's fulfillment centers will be affected, but not those already inside.
The Pain of the Record Label Companies
Cheryl Pawelski, co-founder of Omnivore Records, one of the Grammy-winning record companies, reacted to the drastic measure that Amazon implemented. She says the outlook of the action is grim.
Amazon released a statement about the recent move: "We are seeing increased online shopping, and as a result some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock," Amazon states. "With this in mind, we are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and deliver these products to customers. For products other than these, we have temporarily disabled shipment creation. ... We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding as we temporarily prioritize these products for customers."
Some retailers can absorb the shipment that Amazon denies and fill the gap so that it can be delivered to customers, who are now mostly in their own homes due to imposed quarantine measures. Some local record stores can also fill in for Amazon, but the availability of physical stores and whether these stores are open would be the question.
However, the top-selling album charts on Rolling Stone cannot bend with the lack of sales on Amazon, but smaller labels can be affected if people are satisfied with streaming.
Even before the outbreak of the coronavirus, sales of physical records have already been dropping. This reduction is mostly due to the increased streaming sales. Vinyl and CD accounted for about 10% of the total sales in 2019, but according to RIAA, vinyl sales up by 19% or $504 million in sales.
Amazon is known as one of the largest companies that ship and deliver record labels, big and small names alike.
Fat Possum Records sales director Will McCarley laments the move made by Amazon.
"It's a pretty hard hit for everybody, and we're just trying to be sensitive to the situation," McCarley said in an interview, "We're not filling medical supplies or anything like that, we're in the music business and we understand this will be a long lasting affect for everybody."
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