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Music buying habits & HMV woes

Pinky

Pinky

In suspense, not compressed
It looks as though HMV are really up against it and IMO will need a radical startegy rethink if they are to survive:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12968495

I also found the article on music buying trends very interesting:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12140066

Personally I was surprised that there aren't more downloads of albums. Apparently 82.5% of them were still purchased in physical format in 2010. A stark contrast to the position with singles though!
 
The problem is that they are just over-priced.
The music, computer games, etc. that they sell can be had cheaper elsewhere.
They are selling the exact same product, not offering any value-added, and expecting people to pay over the odds for it.
I bought some CDs in the shop on Oxford Street that was closing down a few weeks back; apart from that I can't recall the last time I bought anything at HMV.
 
The Oxford Street shop which hasn`t closed down offers many good deals on obscure / reissued (not new recordings) classical CDs. I go in often and will be sorry when it inevitably closes.

Barry
 
prowla said:
The problem is that they are just over-priced.
The music, computer games, etc. that they sell can be had cheaper elsewhere...
Click to expand...
My view is the problem is that they don't seem to care about music anymore. They've filled their stores up with DVDs, Blu Rays, games, ipods and crappy speaker systems and other useless electronics. Music is almost an afterthought. Try and buy any music that's not mainstream and you're going to come unstuck unless you're in one of the 'mega'stores. Vinyl? What's that. They've bought it all upon themselves. Even Fopp are being HMV-ised so I fear they'll not be long for this world either...
 
To my mind HMV have been left behind in a no-man's land between the big discount shifters like Amazon or Play and the smaller independents such as Rough Trade or Piccadilly offering neither the price competitiveness of the former or the niche product knowledge and personality of the latter.

Tony.
 
The majority of teenagers think buying music is an outmoded concept and a significant proportion of 50 quid men are now high speed broadband media pirates.

Frankly, I'd put my money in something else.
 
Well I bought an album today, cd/ online as per usual and HMV were the cheapest for it. a new 2011 album too so not a bargain bucket buy.

Im not surprised 82% still favour cd's/ physical format over downloads.. its just doesnt make sense buying any album downloaded to me as it never feels like you actually 'have' it/ more 'borrowed', or 'have a copy of it' as tactile and 'owned' as an old cassette copy. Not very inspiring way to have a record collection. A cd or lp is 'my album', simple as.
 
Slightly concerned about my pre-order for the 'My Bloody Valentine' remastered LP's, since I shifted my order from Amazon to HMV. Will HMV still be there by the time Kevin Shields gets out of bed and sorts out his legacy?
 
backtovinyl said:
Even Fopp are being HMV-ised so I fear they'll not be long for this world either...
Click to expand...
Yep - I've been in Fopp a couple of times recently and not bought anything, and I didn't bother when I went into London on Monday and just walked past.
 
You know The Cd's you get that 3 inches and a quarter diameter ? You get them with new keyboards etc for the software.

Always fascinated me why they don't use this format for CD singles so like between the LP and The 45 there is a difference

I have M people in dub on one of these three track album given away with cornflakes or something many years ago

think its a good idea?


I was chatting to my mate the other day on how much modern technology
has in effect killed the music scene

What with computers mp3 downloads I'm still fascinated why they gave us the Technology in the first place. they new what we all do with it

Last LP I bought Was shakatak night birds 1980 something and on the inner sleeve we had written with skull and crossbones. Home taping is killing Music.

Then they bring on the CD writer the mini disc the Dat recorder after the cassette recorder why i ask.. if they were that worried about copying

I feel personally Computers have killed of the music for me a bit.

all the programing I try and look at albums first if possible and if i see programed by or anything computerised i try and avoid it .

What anyone ever thinks about vinyl for or against it was great fun collecting it. Nothing like sitting down listening to a bit of music with the album cover in your hand was there..

Singles were great too loved all the labels.. Now do you care what label an artists on do you ever look..
 
i'm still someone that enjoys owning the physical medium, and intend to keep on being that way for some number of years yet, CD shows no signs of letting up any time soon, so i'll keep on buying it.

Now as for HMV, as many have eluded to already, they are simply too expensive. Their special offer sections where they have two cd's for £10 or albums at £3-4 are the typical standard selling prices for amazon of the exact same items. Their chart and standard stock items are joke pricing.

Yes i realise they have to cover overheads, rent, staff, etc etc... but then technically to some extent so do amazon. Amazon even manage to absorb the cost of postage into these £4 albums. take away the postage implications and i'm fairly sure a company with the buying power of HMV could match them on cost. But they don't.

We're not mugs these days and people simply wont pay more money for no added value. HMV will die out as a result.
 
shrink said:
i'm still someone that enjoys owning the physical medium, and intend to keep on being that way for some number of years yet, CD shows no signs of letting up any time soon, so i'll keep on buying it.

Now as for HMV, as many have eluded to already, they are simply too expensive. Their special offer sections where they have two cd's for £10 or albums at £3-4 are the typical standard selling prices for amazon of the exact same items. Their chart and standard stock items are joke pricing.

Yes i realise they have to cover overheads, rent, staff, etc etc... but then technically to some extent so do amazon. Amazon even manage to absorb the cost of postage into these £4 albums. take away the postage implications and i'm fairly sure a company with the buying power of HMV could match them on cost. But they don't.

We're not mugs these days and people simply wont pay more money for no added value. HMV will die out as a result.
Click to expand...

The problem is, CD is only a viable medium whilst optical drives are a feature of computing.

When they are superseded, they will simply not be made anymore. What will the hi fi makers use then?

CD drives are not simple things like turntables. I believe the rump of the CD will be a order of magnitude shorter than that of vinyl.

Chris
 
backtovinyl said:
My view is the problem is that they don't seem to care about music anymore. They've filled their stores up with DVDs, Blu Rays, games, ipods and crappy speaker systems and other useless electronics. Music is almost an afterthought. Try and buy any music that's not mainstream and you're going to come unstuck unless you're in one of the 'mega'stores. Vinyl? What's that. They've bought it all upon themselves. Even Fopp are being HMV-ised so I fear they'll not be long for this world either...
Click to expand...

fopp IS owned by HMV
 
If i were M.D With stores closing down left right and centre i would take over a section of the distribution wharehouse have all the stock sent to it and put it up on my new website called "amazing' offer staff jobs filling internet orders and undercutting amazon by at least 5% rrp with free postage(guaranteed)
Then claim any losses incurred back from the suppliers. If you don't hit your competitor head on then it is game over. Selling discounted lines whilst paying on costs at street level is doomed. People will pick the eyes out of it and where do you go after, 20% off, 2 for 10 quid, buy one get one free....... To the wall is my thoughts.
 
Yep, I'm pretty much with Nirvanah's thoughts on it.

If I was Chairman I'd take virtually the whole retail business on line leaving only the profitable shops (if there are any) trading. The rest would be closed. On line sales would be sent from some offshore place to avoid or reduce VAT liability.

It's an unattractive proposition in many ways: job losses, empty shops, less choice for those who don't/can't buy on line, but what's the alternative? Go down the pan? That way everyone loses their job.
 
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