Amazon is temporarily halting all new incoming shipments of CDs and vinyl through at least April 5 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Amazon is shifting their focus toward medical supplies for the time being, though all remaining stock of CDs and vinyl will still be up for sale.
“We are seeing increased online shopping, and as a result some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock,” Amazon said in a statement to third-party sellers this week via Variety. “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. … We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding as we temporarily prioritize these products for customers.”
It'll be really interesting to see how this shakes out. While the stoppage of physical media is certainly not going to help record labels, everyone is also at home streaming and downloading music. So in a few months I'm sure we'll get to see some numbers on how this really, truly affected labels. Though you can still buy physical media through basically any non-Amazon store.
