Looks like HMV in the UK may survive after all...

For me I'd pay a £1-2 more to buy a CD instore, but the examples you gave for thriller and Led Zep would never happen!

 

Looking at the bottom of the email and having spoken to customer services about the evasiveness of the reply I got, HMV doesn't legally exist anymore. It's just a badge which Sunrise are using as it has a prestige and history in this country that Sunrise just doesn't. The bottom of the email has this generic text that will be on all emails. This is just part of it with the name in:

"No responsibility is accepted by Sunrise Records and Entertainment Limited in this regard..."

 

If HMV has what I want, and it's only £1-2 more, I will always get it there, especially if it's in packaging that could get crushed. But it seems the price differential is getting bigger...£4, 5, maybe even £12 for some....crazy.

EG.

 

I think the days of retail shopping are numbered..parking costs , lack of choice and stock in stores , empty towns full of charity shops , ghost town centres ....vs sitting at home in the warm and endless choice and more often than not cheaper .. I go to record shops when I’m in a town centre but to be out shopping is now a rarity for me ... also on hmv be careful if you call a store to check on stock ..I got stung royally over Xmas on a short phone call

 

Online e-tailers and downloads aren't meant to have the same overheads and running costs as bricks-&-mortar shops, so why are albums £13 or more on places like 7digital and Qobuz, if I want to have them in the same quality as a CD but without the disc, booklet, case or production costs....

I can sort of understand why HMV have to keep to the £12-ish prices for the standard CDs.

EG.

 

I’ve been on leave this week so out and about a bit more than usual, I’ve visited 4 HMV’s across the Midlands (Leicester, Wolverhampton, 2 in Birmingham) ..

And spent nothing ...

That’s gotta be a worry for them..I must be their ideal demographic ..40-50, probably have disposable income and a buyer of physical product ..

I buy a LOT of music , and have been for 40 years .. I brought records this week, cds last week, But nothing from hmv . I brought vinyl in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and CDs/vinyl via eBay and Amazon this week.

Hmv’s Pricing is ridiculous..for example £39.99 for single vinyl Prince albums, average album prices £25 , nothing of true worth in the sale sections, CD’s that were 2 for £10 now 2 for £12.. I just can’t see them surviving much longer ..

On another point I’ve been looking with the wife for her next car , 4 manufacturers and no CD players in any ..and even more worrying for the planet , none offering electric or even hybrid in our price range (which is £30k!) .. I was told by one I needed to double my budget for an eco car

 

The catalogue prices in HMV are ridiculous. £37 for the Howard Jones 3-disc set, something like £28 for the Kim Wildes...and so on. I don't mind £12.99 vs 11.99 (I picked up a New Musik twofer for that small extra cost), and they had the special 2-disc edition of the new Pet Shop Boys. But it was very uninspiring in general, and the store was a lot quieter than ever before. Maybe because of Half-Term, maybe because of the virus scares, I don't know.

Oh, and they had Salt on Blu-Ray for £3.49, which I couldn't resist.

EG.

 

I went in yesterday. Then went out back out quickly.

 

Least you had the option to walk in! I've no local record shop now. Closest to me at work is a HMV/Fopp in Covent garden which is a tube ride/walk away so I don't stick my head in unless I'm going in that direction.

Hence I'm now reliant on Amazon/downloads/spotify.

 

So another nil purchase in hmv Telford yesterday, but was advised they are having a massive store vinyl sale today for anyone interested, not sure if it’s nationwide or online

 

Some of the last exclusives dropped in price on the website ..a few sold out but still a couple of decent ones (Marvin Gaye, Bluesbreakers) that I picked up

 

For my part, I only tend to buy at HMV when their prices are competitive - their sales are generally quite good, foe example. But their day-to-day pricing is horrible.

Case in point - the Mission:Impossible 6 movie 4K box set is currently £40 on Zoom (comfortably trumping the normal online price, which is around £70). Guess what the shop price was at my local HMV in Bristol?


£100

 

Just had email hmv temporary closing all its stores!

 

It’s not a shock, the right thing to do.

The government will be paying 80% of the staff’s wages for at least 3 months, so hopefully HMV can see this out.

 

John Lewis, IKEA, all the Arcadia group chains, and I think Waterstones (at least my local Waterstones) have also closed, so this is the way it's going at the moment.

EG.

 

It is the right thing to do, just glad I picked my hurting box set up on friday as I nearly left it till tomorrow!!

 

Wonder if ikea doing internet orders ?

I’ve just started redoing my music room so will need shelving soon for vinyl

 

Seems so:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) information page

EG.

 

All my local Midlands record stores now closed ....hence the decorating...think we are a week away from total lock down

 

Yes I think you are right there!

 

I was in Fopp on Friday getting the new Morrissey album, glad I got it on the day of release and didn’t leave it a few days.

 

I was in HMV this morning and I saw this, just the standard single disc current pressing of Neil Young - Harvest for £39.99. I thought it was an HMV rip off but it's over £37 on Amazon. One of the HMV staff said the suppliers are taking the piss. There's something very wrong somewhere.


A lot of the vinyl was fairly priced but there are certain titles that are priced unbelievably high. There seems to be more and more of them too.

I bought the Neil Young - Homegrown vinyl for £19.99. Good stuff.

 

That's a ridiculous price.

Is this a deliberate move to kill off the vinyl boom? Certainly feels like it.

 

I don't know what's going on. Because HMV are now a new company (Sunrise) since the takeover I was told they aren't getting many deals from the record companies / suppliers, but also they seem to be putting a 100% mark up on the dealer prices. It will be truly sad if people actually pay this. There was loads of £29.99 and £34.99 single albums on the racks.

To be fair and for balance there is a 2 for £30 offer on with some good titles in, but it's getting noticeable that it's mostly the same titles reduced each time they have a deal or sale on.

 

Where I am, they closed down the big store and opened a smaller one with considerably less stock. There seems to be much less in the way of genre music even though I reckon it's the old rockers and folkies that actually want physical product (although not at forty quid a pop!).

I'll miss it if it ever goes but it's not what it was.