According to Variety, Amazon has decided to put a temporary halt to incoming shipments of physical media, subjecting record labels - particularly independent imprints that do a good deal of business in vinyl and CDs - to yet another blow.

Amazon has announced that its warehouses has “temporarily disabled shipment creation” for discretionary items through at least April 5. That doesn’t have to do with the outflow of product from Amazon, but inflow. Amazon is declaring an immediate emphasis on the kind of household and medical supplies that have been quick to sell out, and which customers are having a hard time finding in person. Their message to record labels and distributors: Please stop sending us anything, until further notice.

That doesn’t mean that products already sitting in Amazon warehouses won’t still be up for sale to consumers. But replenishing stock, or stocking new music releases, is something that will have to wait for weeks - or, some fear, months.

“Considering Amazon is the biggest record retailer in the world, I have to imagine that all record labels will take a hit,” says Cheryl Pawelski, the Grammy-winning co-founder of Omnivore Records, adding that with “brick and mortar retail under duress at this time as well, I can’t say that the outlook is good.”

“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. “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.”

Read the full story at Variety.