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It looks like HMV might survive as the only UK high street media retailer left standing. It’s struck a deal with suppliers including Universal Music, to effectively share the burden by getting the suppliers to shoulder the risk for stock; a bit like a jeweller does.
In return for their part the suppliers, which include Universal Music, EMI, Warner Brothers, Sony Music, Universal Pictures and Disney, will get a 2.5 per cent chunk of HMV’s equity. That gives the suppliers a vested interest to keep HMV afloat. In fact it was reckoned that if HMV collapsed it would be more damaging for the music and film industry in the UK than HMV’s shareholders.
HMV also saw better news from its banks, giving it relaxed loan terms. The combined news has potentially pulled HMV out of its tailspin. It’s also committed itself to generating one third of its revenue from electronics sales, including iPods and headphones.
So HMV won’t go bust just yet. Now all it needs to do is get shoppers coming back in and spending money, not buying their stuff from Amazon; that’s a pretty big task if you ask me. It’s apparently going to push a vinyl revival, but when was the last time you actually went into an HMV and bought anything, let alone a record? [The Guardian]
Image credit: Gene Hunt from flickr
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picked up the stanley kubrick blu ray boxset from HMV for £25 the other day… a full £10 cheaper than amazon, or anywhere else i could find online – and it had it there and then. There is a tendency to assume online will be cheaper these days – when in fact HMV do score on price now and then. Also, unless Amazon and the like start upping the quality of their delivery schemes customers will abandon them. Picking up the product I want on the way home from work is way better than the criminal enterprise know as ‘Yodel’ couriers…
you mean this one? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stanley-Kubrick-Visionary-Filmmaker-Collection/dp/B004MW57KA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1327077741&sr=8-3
More retail stores need store price&availability checkers on their sites. If they had such systems then it would make me buy retail more often.
I remember i used to buy vinyl from HMV, but they dont seam to stock it anymore. Was the only place i could find Year Zero on vinyl when it came out.
I don’t think this is completely HMV’s fault; if record companies don’t release stuff on vinyl, then HMV aren’t going to stock it. I was in HMV last weekend and was surprised to see Noel Gallagher’s latest single being sold in 7″ format alongside CD single.
From what I’ve read, I’m pretty sure the record label are going to start producing more vinyl. It’s one of the tactics they’re using to keep brick-and-mortar retailers alive and to differentiate it from MP3s.
Most music is still sold on CD. But between the convenience of supermarkets, the bargain online retailers like play.com, and instantly buying downloads, then traditional music retailers don’t fit in anywhere – no one is to blame but HMV themselves, when you are making vast profits you diversify, you don’t have to. But if Virgin had of placed all of its profits into Virgin Megastores, and nothing else, then where would they be today? In the same boat.
This is terrible news. I was looking forward to them going bust so much. I love to see companies that have overcharged for years getting put in their place. The Battle Royale DVD cost £35 in HMV. £35 when it came out! So it seems the music and film industry are really confident they will save their old business model then? We’ll just see about that wont we!!
Last time I bought something from HMV…..A few months back actually when a bunch of bands released some new CD’s and Nikki Sixx brought out his new book. Hell probably bought a DVD since then that I can’t recall.
Personally I like HMV, it’s a good store to bomb around in on a lunch break and possibly find a good deal or two.
My local HMV is complete rubbish for the items i enjoy. Xbox 360 games are always overpriced, There “metal / heavy rock” section is like a teenagers kerrang poster collection and still overpiced , the same for audio equipment like headphones mp3 players and speakers etc.
Games i just go to cex or ebay, e bay and amazon for music, and any audio equipment i go to digital village as the quality is generally superior and at a much cheaper price.
It may sound trite, but HMV were a good buisness once. I remember travelling miles to visit a HMV for rare imports and and stuff we couldn’t buy in the little independent record shops. Staff were knowledgeable and if they didn’t have something could always get it. It doesn’t even resemble the business it was in those days. Still, I’m glad they are managing to keep it going. It’s still a business and it employs people and creates jobs.
HMV is one of the better retailers very competitive pricing compared to online stores, still beaten in a lot of cases, but still, competitive.
Also one of the last places to buy CDs/DVDs on the high street. Glad they look to be turning around.