I'm still digesting this one, but I've just read on New Music Strategies http://newmusicstrategies.com/2008/12/03/a-long-tail-british-christmas/ that the major supplier of CDs DVDs and games in the UK, Entertainment UK, is in administration.
Check out Andrew Dubber's summary of the news, plus the comments on his blog. As far as I can tell some major retail outlets may not be able to stock big titles in their stores in the run up to Christmas. At the same time Zavvi are no longer taking orders online for the same reason. This doesn't seem to have had any effect on other sights including Play.com or the HMV site, yet.
By coincidence Amazon UK have now started MP3 downloads, so basically it's really looking like people won't be able to have the physical copy of the big albums this Christmas, so will they download them as MP3s instead, as they obviously won't be affected by the same supply problems?
Could we be seeing the beginning of the end of Physical albums etc? MP3s are always available, and for most of us much more convenient, as well a cheaper. You can't give an MP3 for Christmas in quite the same way though, can you? I for one would miss that experience of looking at a CD case in a shop, and flicking through the inlay book as I'm listening to it once it's home. How about you?
A lot of independent "unsprung" musicians such as myself are likely to be quietly tickled by this news, as it could be another nail in the coffin for the major record labels, who are the subject of so much distain in the modern music arena.
It seems to be that although they will of course suffer, it's the middle ground smallish labels that will be most hit. Then again, I'm not certain exactly which artists are affected by the supply chain problems, perhaps the middle ground artists will sell more than expected, while the major artists really suffer.
Let me know if your having trouble, or not, getting hold of music and DVDs in the run up to the holidays.
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