Unbiased file labels have expressed worries after a big vinyl distribution firm, Utopia Music, has began to contain main labels in its funds.
Utopia Music is an organization which bodily distributes vinyl and CDs to retailers. In September 2022, the corporate acquired what was previously the largest music distribution firm within the UK, Cinram Novum. Earlier that January, it additionally acquired fellow distributor Correct Music Group. Attributable to these acquisitions, Utopia now has an estimated 70 per cent share, making it the main firm for getting information to retailers within the UK.
Nonetheless, points involving a warehouse transfer gone fallacious have negatively impacted acts at indie labels. The Guardian reported that one British indie label mentioned certainly one of its largest acts missed a Prime 20 chart place. Moreover, inventory for a September launch was “briefly unable to be positioned”, which means 9 months of labor and hundreds of kilos had been wasted.
“It put a crack by the center of the marketing campaign. It might imply a knock of fifty per cent off gross sales,” a senior government from the label mentioned.
The corporate is predicated in Switzerland, and has run into additional monetary issues this yr. In the summertime, Utopia referred to as in liquidators for its Utopia UK (R&D) operation. It additionally requested monetary assist from main labels Common Music Group and Sony Music Leisure for its separate distribution arm, UDS, to be able to fund the warehouse transfer from Aylesbury to Bicester.
There at the moment are worries that main labels are gaining an unhealthy stage of affect on an impartial sector. This echoed by the feedback of Utopia VP of distribution providers Drew Hill: “A part of me needs now I hadn’t gone to [the majors] to say: ‘Do you wish to come alongside for the trip?’”
Hill additionally spoke concerning the warehouse operation, which he says was a 12-16 month course of that needed to be minimize down to six months because of the lease finish date for the Aylesbury web site. “Nothing went lacking or bought misplaced,” he mentioned. In keeping with Hill, 27 trailers of inventory “had been loaded with out being correctly manifested”, leading to an unloading backlog. Moreover, he reportedly careworn that main labels weren’t given preferential remedy through the transfer, calling the incident “a really unlucky state of affairs”.
These fears could improve if Utopia has to divest its distribution arm. The corporate has already divested publishing tech firm Sentric, Absolute Label Companies, and music analytics platform ROSTR because of an acquisition frenzy in 2021 and 2022.
If Utopia divests UDS, then the probably candidates to purchase it out can be main labels. Hill claims this wouldn’t be the case: “Sony and UMG haven’t any management over operational workflow on web site,” Hill mentioned. “I don’t assume they’ve bought any want to get again into one thing” – bodily distribution – “they spent years attempting to get out of.”
