Amazon has paused its wholesale orders of CDs, vinyl, and music merch in an effort to meet accelerating demand for essentials amid the coronavirus outbreak, Variety and Music Business Worldwide report. The postponement of orders into its warehouses will last at least until April 5, as the retail giant restocks household essentials and medical supplies.
For items Amazon already has in its warehouses, orders will be processed as usual. Record labels and distributors, however, will not receive shipment orders until further notice.
In a statement to sellers, Amazon wrote: “We are seeing increased online shopping, and as a result some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock. 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.”
Last week, Record Store Day postponed its 2020 edition to a prospective date of June 20, dealing a further blow to labels. This Friday (March 20), Bandcamp is waiving its share of revenue on music sales, in order to support struggling artists.