HMV's fucked (1 Viewer)

[MacDara]

Their model's not sustainable anymore. The average punter just watches box sets or movies on Sky or whatever, and if they buy physical it's either Amazon or the supermarket. They're the people that used to sustain a chain like HMV whose bulk-buying power could support a more dedicated or obsessive niche (depending on the store manager, mind). I think that can still work - Tower in Dublin seem to be doing OK? - but only on a much smaller scale, not as a chain.

 

[rettucs]

Their model's not sustainable anymore. The average punter just watches box sets or movies on Sky or whatever, and if they buy physical it's either Amazon or the supermarket. They're the people that used to sustain a chain like HMV whose bulk-buying power could support a more dedicated or obsessive niche (depending on the store manager, mind). I think that can still work - Tower in Dublin seem to be doing OK? - but only on a much smaller scale, not as a chain.

I thought Tower was supposed to be shutting in 2018? That was the rumour anyway.

Maybe the vinyls revival saved them.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

Plenty of Tower Records bags in town every day. It certainly looks like they’re doing all right.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Hard to feel pity for companies that put a million small shops out of business back in the day. This is the model of business they wanted and amazon has them beat fair and square at it.

 

[IFF]

I was surprised that golden discs are making money
Vinyl sales drive profits at Golden Discs

Tower not so good though I have read and thought they were a little bit more disappointing results

Tower Records spun further into the red last year - but it's still 'excited for the future'

I do wonder how much vinyl sales make up of sales

 

[Lili Marlene]

The twitter response to that Guardian opinion piece about HMV has been 1000 times more insufferable than the article itself.

 

[_Katie_]

I'm not seeing why people are losing the reason over HMV, anyone I know who worked there was treated like shit and practically had a nervous breakdown over it.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Retail stockholm syndrome.

Shopping in HMV is the Blitz spirit.

 

[NoNo]

Golden discs are making a very small profit and if you look at the 30% drop year on year in dvd sales and over20% in cd sales, there is not much time left for their business model.
I always found the staff in hmv Henry street to be super helpful and knowledgeable about music and they had a lot of so called alternative music in stock.

 

[Lili Marlene]

I have nothing but good memories of shopping in HMV.

and the big Virgin Megastore on the quays.

and Comet.

and Borderline.

and Road.

and Rhythm Records.

and the Waterstones that was opposite Hodges Figgis that is now Tower, and also the big Easons on Dawson street that is now a Costa Coffee.

I dunno what the deal is with all this, is the Amazon level of capitalism bad while the HMV level was good? Do people think their memories will no longer exist?


Going around checking every shop for a cd/record was part and parcel of being a music fan and between napster->spotify and amazon that is all gone. I'm happy to mourn that, to hell with the frictionless experience (LOL), but i'm not going to get upset over a fucking corporation going under. We know this shit is bad, we know people are losing their livelihoods, HMV would have happily done the same if they'd been quick off the ball with the internet (I think we linked to that story earlier in this thread?)

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

Good riddance to checking every shop for something, that is a drag.

 

[Lili Marlene]

It was a nice way to spend a day. NOT VERY EFFICIENT THOUGH.

 

[ann post]

Soon when you order a vynils on amazon they are just going to send you a boston scientific robot that trashes anything that wasn't bought on amazon or is more than six months old.


I wonder about the spaces though, particularly in cities. Record shops used to be a great place to go to unwind, kind of a personality type thing. There was certainly a time in Dublin i'd do a lap of a few record shops (still do) but the end game is gonna remove that. Thats fine if you just ostracise a few neckbeards from the city, not a massive loss. The likes of grafton street etc though, probably 80% of those businesses could easily be an app, and then you lose the space in which people tend to just wander. Early dibs on the Dublin museum of aimless browsing.

 

[Space]

Better writing on HMV.

HMV is a bedrock of the British music industry – its loss would affect us all

 

[Lili Marlene]

Better writing on HMV.

HMV is a bedrock of the British music industry – its loss would affect us all

Yeah I dunno if it is. I don't doubt his story but maybe they should have considered all this when they were making massive bank and the dreamers who worked there were floating it on the stock exchange.

 

[Space]

Yeah I dunno if it is. I don't doubt his story but maybe they should have considered all this when they were making massive bank and the dreamers who worked there were floating it on the stock exchange.

I could be mistaken but I don't think the people he's talking about who worked there had any say in floating it on the stock exchange.

 

[therealjohnny]

Good riddance to checking every shop for something, that is a drag.

Just before xmas I was looking for a specific record. I went around every record shop I could think of and had a chat in each one and got recommendations on where else I could try. I didn't get what I was looking for but I enjoyed that afternoon. Later I used my jumper as a goal post and had some Werther's mints while playing with my cheeky charlie.

 

[Lili Marlene]

I could be mistaken but I don't think the people he's talking about who worked there had any say in floating it on the stock exchange.

And there's the issue right there.

 

[Space]

And there's the issue right there.

I'm not sure what you're getting at. The staff aren't the owners yet you've stated above that the staff/the dreamers were the ones who floated it on the stock exchange?

 

[Lili Marlene]

I'm not sure what you're getting at. The staff aren't the owners yet you've stated above that the staff/the dreamers were the ones who floated it on the stock exchange?

Well I suppose what I'm getting at is that i'm not sure what the article is getting at. I don't believe HMV were any less of a "mercilessly unscrupulous colossus" than Amazon, they just lost the war.