UK's Largest Independent Music Distributor Falls In London Riots

Anyone who has taken even a slight interest in British news over the last 72 hours will know of the carnage that has been taking place across London as kids run riot openly looting, setting buildings and cars alight and generally going on a meaningless rampage.

Violence first broke out in Tottenham on Saturday during a peaceful protest against the shooting of local man Mark Duggan last week, by Police. As the protest turned violent a number of subsequent events quickly took place across various suburbs in London, linked up via social media, especially Twitter and BlackBerry's messenger network.

PIAS, the UK's largest distributor of Independent music, fell victim last night after its warehouse, shared with Sony was "burnt to the ground".

The distributor supplies record shops with CD's, Vinyl and DVD's by artists such as The XX and Darwin Deez as well as established artists including Arctic Monkeys and The Prodigy. It also holds stock for labels such as Warp, Ninjatune, Brownswood, Domino, Sunday Best and many more.

Over 150 indie labels in total coordinate their distribution through the PIAS warehouse, based in Enfield, North London.

It is as yet unclear exactly how much PIAS stock was damaged, though with informal reports that the centre was “burned to the ground” some already fear the worst and rightly so.

The full list of labels that distribute through PIAS can be seen here