Music Retail - No Future?
Posted by: Sir Cycle Sexy on 25 May 2007
If supermarkets make next to nothing on music in order to sell their food and non-food tat and Apple make next to nothing on music in order to sell their iPods how can the specialist retail channel compete?
If you've shopped in Loughborough's Left Legged Pineapple before you've only a month to do so again. The website will continue but the retail side is to close around the end of June (stock dependent) as owner Jason White feels he can't justify the admin in the light of declining sales. I picked up 50 CDs for under 250 quid but it's no compensation. I am, frankly, gutted.
C
If you've shopped in Loughborough's Left Legged Pineapple before you've only a month to do so again. The website will continue but the retail side is to close around the end of June (stock dependent) as owner Jason White feels he can't justify the admin in the light of declining sales. I picked up 50 CDs for under 250 quid but it's no compensation. I am, frankly, gutted.
C
Posted on: 26 May 2007 by BigH47
Doesn't any one else think that the possible demise of CD sales in supermarkets is kind of their own fault when they try to sell every bloody thing under one roof? Jack of all, master of none?
Even the high street brands must feel the pinch soon. I was in HMV and virgin the other day anything specialist or non top xxx was pretty poor. An occasional bargain but most of the prices were £14-16, pointing out they are much cheaoer on the web even on their own W/sites just brings a shoulder shrug. FOPP always seems to have some offerings at good prices, but they are few and far between ATM.
Howard
Even the high street brands must feel the pinch soon. I was in HMV and virgin the other day anything specialist or non top xxx was pretty poor. An occasional bargain but most of the prices were £14-16, pointing out they are much cheaoer on the web even on their own W/sites just brings a shoulder shrug. FOPP always seems to have some offerings at good prices, but they are few and far between ATM.
Howard
Posted on: 26 May 2007 by JamieWednesday
The main benefit of shop premises in retail or the service industry now is if you want (and are happy to pay for the) service. If you know what you want and have a PC, t'internet is the only way to go. Just about every music purchase (along with flight tickets, groceries, clothes) comes to us via the post these days. When I need service (e.g. broken shower), then I pay extra for that service.
In my own business people can buy most of my own products on line, if tehy know what they need. Fortunately most don't and realise that my 20 years experience is worth paying for. Same as hifi retail i hope.
In my own business people can buy most of my own products on line, if tehy know what they need. Fortunately most don't and realise that my 20 years experience is worth paying for. Same as hifi retail i hope.
Posted on: 26 May 2007 by Sir Cycle Sexy
Howard, my point is supermarkets are poisoning the channel and it's killing off the specialists.
I wouldn't count HMV as a specialist but even they, with their high prices, are hurting. They plan to turn a fifth of their sales to online by 2010 by which time they want to save 40m p/a by 'reviewing the UK store portfolio'. We all know what that means. Those stores that remain will become 'refreshment hub and online social networking' sites. So the big HMV idea is to turn into a web cafe.
One more nail in the coffin of physical media.
C
I wouldn't count HMV as a specialist but even they, with their high prices, are hurting. They plan to turn a fifth of their sales to online by 2010 by which time they want to save 40m p/a by 'reviewing the UK store portfolio'. We all know what that means. Those stores that remain will become 'refreshment hub and online social networking' sites. So the big HMV idea is to turn into a web cafe.
One more nail in the coffin of physical media.
C
Posted on: 26 May 2007 by Sir Cycle Sexy
Jamie, you're right. There are plenty of people interested in the 'value add' of service and I'm glad you've found the few who are even willing to pay for it! I guess half your bill is for knowing how and the remainder for what you deliver.
Physical media is an annoying cost for the companies you buy your music from. It's going to get harder to make a good sound in future I think.
Me, there's 20M fibre in my road and an X-Fi Crystalizer on the soundcard. I don't plan on paying for anything until I've downloaded every last bit of free legit stuff out there and I've so much plundered www.properlychilled.com today Virgin have throttled the connection right back.
C
Physical media is an annoying cost for the companies you buy your music from. It's going to get harder to make a good sound in future I think.
Me, there's 20M fibre in my road and an X-Fi Crystalizer on the soundcard. I don't plan on paying for anything until I've downloaded every last bit of free legit stuff out there and I've so much plundered www.properlychilled.com today Virgin have throttled the connection right back.
C
Posted on: 26 May 2007 by Sir Cycle Sexy
I've thought about it and this is what might happen:
2008 Under pressure from chain stores, independents retreat to the only place they make margin: pre-owned.
2009 Publishers ink exclusive deals on the top 20 with supermarkets, chain stores lose revenue and retreat to pre-owned inadvertantly killing off the remaining indies.
2010 Receiving no revenue from pre-owned sales, publishers cease production of all physical media. chain stores become web cafes and close six months later. Record number of caffeine poisonings in this year.
2012 Sony-BMG and EMI-Universal-Warner (SoB-EUW) amalgamated in private equity take over. Sale of property portfolio blamed for the Great central London Property Crash of 2012.
2015 SoB-EUW exclusively licences entire back catalogue to the ad media industry. All artists must now self-publish online.
2016 Rampant filesharing kills off self publishing. The only 'new' music in this year is Dido and Moby back catalogue tunes recorded from car adverts off the telly.
2020 In Europe a new EU recycling initiative to limit sales of physical media is badly implemented by UK government. Ownership any CD or DVD is now a criminal offence.
2022 Sony-BMG-EMI-Universal-Warner (SoB-EUW) sues itself over sample release related issues and shareholders vote to close the company to maximise ROI.
2027 After 18 years in opposition Labour return to power. Just thinking about owning physical media is now a crime.
Salisbury, year 2029. Factory upgrade to Naimnet neural processors is made available. One of them (in Swindon) learns at a geometric rate and becomes self-aware at teatime. File sharing Torrent sites are nuked in China, Russia and the Principality of Sealand.
C
2008 Under pressure from chain stores, independents retreat to the only place they make margin: pre-owned.
2009 Publishers ink exclusive deals on the top 20 with supermarkets, chain stores lose revenue and retreat to pre-owned inadvertantly killing off the remaining indies.
2010 Receiving no revenue from pre-owned sales, publishers cease production of all physical media. chain stores become web cafes and close six months later. Record number of caffeine poisonings in this year.
2012 Sony-BMG and EMI-Universal-Warner (SoB-EUW) amalgamated in private equity take over. Sale of property portfolio blamed for the Great central London Property Crash of 2012.
2015 SoB-EUW exclusively licences entire back catalogue to the ad media industry. All artists must now self-publish online.
2016 Rampant filesharing kills off self publishing. The only 'new' music in this year is Dido and Moby back catalogue tunes recorded from car adverts off the telly.
2020 In Europe a new EU recycling initiative to limit sales of physical media is badly implemented by UK government. Ownership any CD or DVD is now a criminal offence.
2022 Sony-BMG-EMI-Universal-Warner (SoB-EUW) sues itself over sample release related issues and shareholders vote to close the company to maximise ROI.
2027 After 18 years in opposition Labour return to power. Just thinking about owning physical media is now a crime.
Salisbury, year 2029. Factory upgrade to Naimnet neural processors is made available. One of them (in Swindon) learns at a geometric rate and becomes self-aware at teatime. File sharing Torrent sites are nuked in China, Russia and the Principality of Sealand.
C