Indies Terminate Contracts With Pinnacle

• 11th Dec 2008

Lawyers for the Association Of Independent Music have written to the administrators of Pinnacle informing them that 92 indie labels wish to terminate their contracts with the distribution firm and to collect any CDs that are currently sitting in the company's warehouse.

Independent distributor Pinnacle went into administration last week. As the distributor for numerous independent record companies, and the physical product distributor for other distribution firms, Pinnacle's downfall could hit the indie sector hard. Affected labels need to reclaim any stock currently in the distributor's possession, figure out how to get their current releases into record shops and brace themselves for financial losses given most are still owed sales revenues collected by Pinnacle on their behalf, with payments owing to some for up to three months.

Representatives from many affected labels attended an emergency meeting at AIM's West London HQ on Thursday. It was following that meeting that AIM's lawyer wrote to administrators BDO Stoy Hayward informing them of the intent of 92 of the labels the trade body represents.

AIM boss Alison Wenham, meanwhile, told reporters: “It is hoped that the administrators will not seek to prevent labels from collecting their stock as they are entitled to do. If necessary, the labels will make an application to the Court to protect their position”.

Rumour has it Pinnacle's lease on its warehouse is nearly up so there is an added urgency for labels to retrieve their stock before the distributor's landlords sweep in. AIM says it is also advising other indies who have appointed their own lawyers on what action to take, while also looking into alternative storage facilities for those labels who manage to get their CDs back from Pinnacle.