HMV in administration (again).....
Posted by: GeeJay on 28 December 2018
Such a shame to see the last major music & movie (CD, DVD, BluRay, Vinyl, etc.) high street retailer in the UK go into administration (again) with potential loss of jobs and stores. Last time was in 2013.
Blamed on people switching to music/movie streaming and reduced sales of physical media. Even the relatively modest small growth in vinyl sales and diversification into turntable and headphone sales hasn’t been enough to save them.
Since it’s resurrection in 2013, I’ve bought my CDs and BluRays from HMV, however I suspect that many turn to the large ‘A****n’ place on-line. I even saw one guy in HMV looking through the new movies and music racks and buying them from ‘A’ on-line on his phone!
I guess we only have ourselves to blame for the loss of these stores, and with loss of brands like Maplins this year, it’s terribly sad to think of a future where all items come through the front door in small brown boxes or get streamed to our houses. Convenient? Probably, but definitely a loss to the tangible experience of discovering, selecting and buying films and music I believe. I still resist streaming subscriptions, and shun Netflix, Amazon and Sky. I’ve also terminated my Tidal subscription.....fed up with paying for things that I’ll never own. I recognise that I’m In the minority though. Part of me is nostalgic for the ‘old days’, and as a youngster, I used to buy records and cassettes from the flagship HMV store in Oxford Street, London.
Apparently when HMV last went into administration in 2013, financial analyst Mark Saunders told the Guardian: "In the digital era where 73.4% of music and film are downloaded or bought online, HMV's business model has simply become increasingly irrelevant and unsustainable”.
So sad...