HMV in administration.

End of the bloody line this is. They're *****, but this a really sad day. And I've got a load of vouchers to spend....

 

My favorite high street shop, spend hours in there, although the prices are crap compared to online shopping.

 

Made no attempt to move with the times and instead of expanding and finding new innovations and money making systems they scaled back and back until they could no longer carry on.

Don, take note.

 

I would love to buy all my music from HMV but sadly they don't have anything I like.

 

had it coming to them, failed to take heed when virgin went bust

 

It was only a matter of time, like any shop that provides a browsing service to customers who then go and buy it online.

Good luck with the vouchers, they are normally not valid in cases like this, but you never know ......

 

That's interesting. The consensus is that they did expand - too much; getting away from their core business as a music retailer and that's why they failed. Messy storefronts awash with gadgets, headphones etc. Music marginalised to a tiny display hidden somewhere at the back of the shop. Awful back catalogue with no interest in specialist & niche genres. They should have looked at the success of many small, independent music retailers over the last few years to see where the future lay for them. You're never going to undercut the likes of ASDA, Tesco or the big etailers on the new JLS album, to use an example, so why try to compete?? Stock the stuff they don't/won't. Ironically, they own Fopp, which is thriving because they've stuck to some basic principles. If they take that chain with them, I'll kill them again myself.

 

HMV should have offered plug in and download services where you could plug your ipod/ipad/phone/whatever in and download a track or album directly to your device instore using their high speed internet, mix and match, download and burn onto a disk instore and so on.

 

Ah yes on that front i'd say they did expand but in completely the wrong areas. It was a bit like walking into river island only to find that they had 5 pairs of jeans at the back of the store behind rows and rows of carrots and tomatoes.

I should have specified. They should have expanded their music business into the 21st century and been seen as THE place to buy music instead of just one of many.

 

And Play.com is going the same way. They are moving to marketplace only from 1 March. Zavvi online have already more or less stopped selling CDs, so it's tax-dodging Amazon, e-Bay or supermarkets for CDs, unless you're lucky enough to have an independent left near you.

In the 80's there were around a dozen places to buy records in Barnsley. Even GT news had a box of singles on the counter.

Fortunately, I think there's only 1 record left that I want (Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty by Felt on CD - the reissue series no. 1 if you should ask) and I wouldn't fancy my chances of ever picking that up in HMV.

 

I agree with this. They should have sacked off the Asda music and concentrated on stuff like underground music, folk, jazz, classical and the like. Shame.

 

'tax dodging amazon' as opposed to jersey based play.com or zavvi who sent all their products via USA to avoid tax?

 

I haven't used HMV since I discovered the miracle that is 'that's entertainment', dirt cheap online and even better value in store, mind you the closest one is Wakefield.

 

**** Blu Ray collection, dirt cheap though.

 

I just go for 3 for a fiver CD's and DVD's

 

I tend to be lucky enough to almost all my music direct from the bands/labels or from Banquet Records - brilliant site, great choice, good prices

 

To be honest, i just recycle my DVD'S, Blu Rays and CD'S VIA cex. Keep the stuff i am likely to watch again and recycle the **** and get new stuff and so on.

 

i actually just bought the new dutch uncles cd from banquet! a very reasonable £5.99

 

as a former independant record shop owner i won't shed any tears