HMV to close ?

[A-Rob]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jan/15/jobs-hmv-administrators?intcmp=239

Well I think with the growing online sales this has become inevitable.

Personally I find it very dissapointing because I'm an old school shopper, back in the day(pre internet) going to music shop to buy an album was the ultimate treat. In fact I still like visiting music and book shops I can spend hours in these shops.

I know online prices tend to be cheaper in some cases, however online shopping doesn't have the feeling and value of real shopping for me.

Edited January 15, 2013 by A-Rob

[thetime]

Theres a discussion about it in general, your summery is spot on how I feel.

When I was a teenager(20 years ago) I used to spend hours in music shops flicking through and taking a chance on an album or a band the owner recommends to me as he knew my tastes.

I used to buy a fair few albums by hearing the song for the first time on the shops stereo. This one shop I used to go into even let me put the CD on to check it out before I purchased.

Doing it all online, yeah but wheres the romance of music gone?

[mrtourette]

Very true, although I've found it increasingly frustrating over the last couple of years when walking around HMV and finding their music section shrinking and shrinking and their games/Apple/toys/t-shirt/etc sections increasing in size.

I guess it's natural given the increase in online CD sales but it's disappointing, like you've both said gone are the days of walking into a large store and flicking through racks of new singles and albums to see what was out each week. The two independent stores near me don't really deal in new releases, more rarities and bootlegs, so what they get in every week isn't necessarily what's released that week.

[A-Rob]

Very true, although I've found it increasingly frustrating over the last couple of years when walking around HMV and finding their music section shrinking and shrinking and their games/Apple/toys/t-shirt/etc sections increasing in size.

[Guest]

When I first started buying records, actual record shops were fairly rare. As often as not, it would be a department at the back of a furniture shop or such like. Since then, they've become a major part of every high street... and now they're gone, again...

ain't life weird

[mrtourette]

Surely agree on that. But I guess it was part of HMV's diversification plan to survive.

[The Nal]

Yeah sure, as online CD sales increase in-store ones will naturally derease and I guess they would have looked at maximising in-store sales by giving greater space to other types of product. I'd imagine that people who still hold some sort of nostalgic affection for browsing through records and CD's are in the minority so it doesn't really matter if we are put out by it really.

Edited January 15, 2013 by The Nal

[pink_triangle]

I used love going into hmv when they used to have a huge selection of different genres. I remember a time when my local town had a hmv, our price, mvc and music zone, don't think virgin ever reached us.

The trouble is cost and convenience of online stopped me buying there, so I'm just as guilty as anyone. Can't help thinking that hmv were too slow getting a good online presence. The trouble with hmv is I never got the impression that the staff were experts in their fields, so the shopping experience was just what you could get online but more expensive.

Think its sad that nearly all the high street shops I have grown up with have gone, what's next waterstones or wh smiths? I have great concerns that one day our high streets will just be branches of the big supermarkets continuing to take new roles on and swallowing up any competition. I'm trying to make an effort (particularly with food) to use local businesses at often more cost, but admit it is difficult at times.

[mrtourette]

Vinyl sections in music stores are busy these days. Still a tiny tiny percentage.

And CD sales haven't dropped as much as people think.

[The Nal]

I stopped going to HMV about 5 years ago. They play shite music in the store, put shit music on the stands and the staff know fuck all about music.

Why would any serious music fan go there?

Tower Records on the other hand. Quality. Always changing (even something simple like the layout), the staff will speak to you and give recommendations etc. No need for HMV unless you're a mother going into buy someone an Adele CD.

[mrtourette]

I stopped going to HMV about 5 years ago. They play shite music in the store, put shit music on the stands and the staff know fuck all about music.

Why would any serious music fan go there?

Tower Records on the other hand. Quality. Always changing (even something simple like the layout), the staff will speak to you and give recommendations etc. No need for HMV unless you're a mother going into buy someone an Adele CD.

Edited January 15, 2013 by mrtourette

[A-Rob]

Yeah sure, as online CD sales increase in-store ones will naturally derease and I guess they would have looked at maximising in-store sales by giving greater space to other types of product. I'd imagine that people who still hold some sort of nostalgic affection for browsing through records and CD's are in the minority so it doesn't really matter if we are put out by it really.

[thetime]

Why would any serious music fan go there?

Edited January 15, 2013 by thetime

[The Nal]

People dont have a choice nal.

Where I live the next independant store is a 45 minute train journey away.

Its hmv or nothing for people in small towns where independants fucked of years ago.

Saying that im more bothered jessops going.

[mrtourette]

I don't think the staff in my HMV are that bad, they're clearly all young music/film fans and sometimes offer their thoughts on my purchases and recommend other things that they think are similar when I'm at the till. I get the impression that some of them are glad to pass on their thoughts as working for a major chain they probably aren't asked about that sort of thing much, or really encouraged to advise people, as much they would be if they were working for a small indie shop.

Partly because of that but mainly because I'm happy to do my own research I probably wouldn't ask outright for advice on what to buy, but there's a stand where the members of staff get to choose an album that they recommend and write some blurb about it (although I don't know if these are genuine staff choices or what they've been told to put on the recommended stand by head office).

They do an OK job, I wouldn't really expect any more than politeness and help when you ask from a major chain.

Edited January 15, 2013 by mrtourette

[jump]

I went into HMV at the weekend and knew it will be days before this happened, lots of the big new games were missing from the shelves and the were having a sale where if it had a blue x sticker on it means it's 25% off and everything was stickered apart from TV boxsets, current chart stuff and consoles. I've been telling my girlfriend to hurry up and use her giftcard she got for xmas before it's too late.

[Pinhead]

They ran it down - I'd go so far to say that they fully planned for the business to get to this stage several years ago. There were a whole number of changes they could have implemented to their business and at their stores to keep up with the changes in consumer music, but they just ran down the stock until the choice on line overwealmed them.

Expect to see Amazon, iTunes and other download sites begin to creep up in price now with all the high street competition gone. Personally I still think there is a gap in the market for a high street music store that can present their mechandise that is also offered on line and allow it to be downloaded, synced, uploaded to phone, collected if its still physcial media, T-Shirts, CD's or whatever - in store.

[zero000]

Coincidentally I saw my Gran last night and she was telling me how she worked at "HIs masters voice" before the second world war in London when she was 20 years old and how she enjoyed working there. She's now 94. It's really sad to see HMV go, though as everyone has been saying they were perhaps architects of their own downfall.

[hot_ice]

They ran it down - I'd go so far to say that they fully planned for the business to get to this stage several years ago.

Edited January 15, 2013 by hot_ice

[eFestivals]

They ran it down - I'd go so far to say that they fully planned for the business to get to this stage several years ago.

nah, it's just that Fox is crap at his job.

In a past life I created an online store for him - in 1996. He shut it down because it wasn't making money straight away, because he didn't have the vision to see what the future was.

If he'd have stuck with it, it would now be the UK's sector leader in online sales, and he'd be living in Barbados with billions in the bank.

[The Nal]

also is this the start of the downfall of DVD's?

[zero000]

nah, it's just that Fox is crap at his job.

In a past life I created an online store for him - in 1996. He shut it down because it wasn't making money straight away, because he didn't have the vision to see what the future was.

If he'd have stuck with it, it would now be the UK's sector leader in online sales, and he'd be living in Barbados with billions in the bank.

[Pinhead]

So with all music and movie content on line now, this will be the beginning of the end of any media that will actually be owned by anyone. Instead all music and video will be subscribed to in the cloud - pay per listen or per view. Copying and lending will be considerably reduced making all the media corporations significantly richer. Viewing a movie on line or downloading an mp3 is cheaper now than buying a DVD or a CD, but when these options are gone, expect subscription fees to rocket with the whole delivery mechanism tied up by the industry. This is what they've always wanted.

[mrtourette]

So with all music and movie content on line now, this will be the beginning of the end of any media that will actually be owned by anyone. Instead all music and video will be subscribed to in the cloud - pay per listen or per view. Copying and lending will be considerably reduced making all the media corporations significantly richer. Viewing a movie on line or downloading an mp3 is cheaper now than buying a DVD or a CD, but when these options are gone, expect subscription fees to rocket with the whole delivery mechanism tied up by the industry. This is what they've always wanted.

Edited January 15, 2013 by mrtourette

[mrtourette]

I went into HMV at the weekend and knew it will be days before this happened, lots of the big new games were missing from the shelves and the were having a sale where if it had a blue x sticker on it means it's 25% off and everything was stickered apart from TV boxsets, current chart stuff and consoles. I've been telling my girlfriend to hurry up and use her giftcard she got for xmas before it's too late.