Peter McLennan writes (on Facebook):

WHAT THE???? Amplifier.co.nz just had to delete titles by JPSE, Mint Chicks, The Bats, HDU, Garageland, Kilgour, Knox, SJF, as Warners not repressing. Lets hide our musical heritage under a rock so no-one can hear it! IDIOTS! Haven’t they heard of the long tail? Jeeeeeeeezzz…..

These are legendary and important artists in the NZ Music canon, released on the Flying Nun label over the past 25 years or so. Originally a staunchly independent and groundbreaking record label, Flying Nun’s catalogue is now owned by a major.

The idea that a site that provides digital download site would be required to stop making available this material because it isn’t being ‘repressed’ seems insane. It’s possible, of course, that there’s a lot more to this – and that the material is only being removed from Amplifier because of some deal elsewhere (Vodafone’s music website perhaps? NZ iTunes?).

However – as NZ’s oldest and most established local music download platform, not having your classic Flying Nun albums available in any form is beyond bizarre. The only thing I can think of is an attempt at artificial scarcity in the build-up to another FN boxed set.

I’m going to try and get an interview with someone at Amplifier about this. And Warner Music NZ.