Climate change is literally melting vinyl records

Recent ultra-hot weather has been causing vinyl records to warp during shipping to record stores and consumers.  The melting is particularly hard on independent labels who have limited resources to order additional copies.

Indie label Joyful Noise has added a sticker to their shipped vinyl pakages that reads:

“PACKAGE CONTAINS VINYL RECORDS, DO NOT LEAVE IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT (f*ck climate change).”

Who pays to replace the melted vinyl is causing some friction between labels and fans. Is it the label or the company delivering the package?

Hello Merch, which handles fulfillment for many indie artists and labels added this to their terms of service:

“Please be aware we DO NOT issue refunds or replacements for damage due to extreme weather conditions, minor cosmetic damage, such as corner dings, bends, split inserts, and so on.”

Indie label Ba Da Bing sent an email to customers addressing the issue and offering two options designed to reduce the risk of damaged vinyl, according to Pitchfork:

“We can delay your shipment. If you write us and let us know you’d like to have your shipment held until the heatwave definitely passes, just reply to this email. Then, when things are looking a bit cooler in your region, let us know you’re ready to receive and we’ll send your copy out.”

or

“We send our records via media mail, which can take up to two weeks to arrive. We do this since it’s so much less expensive to ship and we don’t have to charge that much back to you. However, we would be happy to upgrade your shipping from standard to priority mail. This would require you to send us a bit extra money to cover to postage increase—it could be up to $8 more depending upon where in the country you live.”

“Let us know and we can tell you the cost.”

Here’s a solution so at least all that melted vinyl doesn’t land up in the landfill.