How has the British music industry reacted to Pinnacles collapse?
The industry responded magnificently–the majors included–in offering short term deals to get people out of immediate trouble. We still have a lively distribution industry in this country. In some ways, (this bankruptcy) strengthens the distribution community. It has strengthened some of the other distributors. I have also been told by the administrators at Pinnacle that the warehouse there had not been invested in or modernized for some time. So one has to question whether Pinnacle was seeing a future for itself in the long term. Pinnacle’s bankruptcy follows a number of woes in Britain’s music retail sector. Yes. We almost had a melt down on the High Street late last year with Woolworths, and (music retail chain) Zavvi going down. This is after Music Zone, Fopp and MVC (going bankrupt) the year before along with a number of independent stores. We are looking at a very threadbare High Street right now. Several independent stores in the U.K., however, are still reporting good business
