Business News Digital Retail

Amazon temporarily stops accepting new CD and vinyl stock

By | Published on Wednesday 18 March 2020

Amazon

The record industry is one of those affected by Amazon’s decision to halt certain categories of goods being allowed into its distribution centres. The online retailer announced yesterday that it is prioritising essential goods and services in the US and UK until at least 5 Apr, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among goods now being refused are CDs and vinyl.

Although it will continue to sell and ship items that it already has in its warehouses, Amazon has limited new stock to five categories of goods. Products it is still accepting are largely those that it has been running low on as people stock up in expectation of a long lockdown, such as health and baby products, personal care items and pet supplies.

The web giant says it needs to prioritise these items so that it can “quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers”. This means that CDs and vinyl will not be restocked, and new releases will not be made available through Amazon in the short term.

“We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding as we temporarily prioritise these products for customers”, the company said.

Although BPI figures released yesterday showed that the record industry’s physical product revenues were down again in the UK last year – by 10.4% – CDs still make up 13.3% of total revenues and vinyl brings in 6.2%. In total, the sale of physical releases generated £215.8 million for UK record companies in 2019.

For indie labels in particular, vinyl has become an increasingly important revenue stream, and losing the ability to sell through the UK’s biggest music retailer will be problematic, especially given the expected downturn on the high street as more consumers opt to avoid social contact as advised by government.



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