Elton John Wants to Help Ailing HMV UK
Superstar wants to help out ailing music chain.
Music and game retailer HMV announced last month that it was to enter administration. Since then, administrator Deloitte has confirmed numerous store closures. However, it seems some of the world's top musicians may team up in a bid to save the stores. According to the Telegraph, Sir Elton John is hoping to save the chain of music shops.
The Telegraph reports that major labels have been trying to think of a way to boost CD sales since HMV announced its bankruptcy in mid-January. The answer might be in high-profile in-store performances from the likes of Elton John. The newspaper cites David Joseph, chief executive of Universal UK, as saying Elton John in particular was keen to help.
"One of our biggest global superstars said why don't we get a lot of the biggest artists to start doing gigs in HMV, just to turn up and say these are music stores, come and get your music here," Joseph is quoted as saying, later confirming that the star in question was Elton John and that he would definitely be doing something to help HMV.
A fortnight ago, Deloitte announced plans to close a third of the UK's HMV locations. This amounted to 66 stores across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Earlier this week, the administrator announced plans to close a further 37 stores.
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deksman Pointless.Reply
Rather invest money into fully-automated self-sustaining systems for basic necessities of life in entire UK.
Music is much easier to get a hold of online. anyway.
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cozmosis Fact is, there just isn't much need anymore.Reply
I'd rather download an album I want in flac for £10 than a CD costing more + petrol to drive to town + pay for a car park (if I can find a space) only to end up with something I have to change around each time I want to listen to a different album.
Gone are the shopping days in HMV/Virgin. -
silverblue Of real concern is the music of lesser artists that sits on HMV shelves as these stores are closing.Reply
HMV's main problem was overpricing which, granted, is a feature of having a high street presence in competition with online retailers such as Amazon and Play who can seriously undercut you... but a trip to HMV, assuming the item(s) you require is/are available, means you've got them without a waiting period (and without delivery charges, if applicable - if you're walking to HMV, it's free). Still, I did feel that HMV more than priced themselves out of the market; their online store is cheaper and in some cases noticably so... and they're more expensive online than their competitors. Amusingly, HMV are selling some BluRays at five for £30, and some DVD prices have dropped since administration, but music is still at its previous level. The other main problem HMV seems to have is never having what you went in for; I know if something's there and a little more expensive than online, there's a higher chance of me buying it from HMV. In my case though, my other half goes to Topshop and River Island, and the next shop along is HMV, so we pop in there regularly.
People will still want physical media. There's something about having a tangible connection to what you're enjoying. Books haven't died out and they're as tangible as you can get.
If you do live near HMV, then if they sort their pricing out, it could still be of use. Some of the closures have left large areas without a store, so perhaps HMV is more doomed than we thought, and after Zavvi's death four years back, perhaps this truly is the end of the high street music retailer.
One thing the high street could do with in its place is a pickup point (not just for HMV - other distributors could join the venture) so if you were to order something online, it could be sent there along as part of the daily batches (thus reducing delivery costs to the customer) and you could just pick it up without fear of paying through the nose or the item not being in store when you get there. -
silverblue cozmosisFact is, there just isn't much need anymore.I'd rather download an album I want in flac for £10 than a CD costing more + petrol to drive to town + pay for a car park (if I can find a space) only to end up with something I have to change around each time I want to listen to a different album.Gone are the shopping days in HMV/Virgin.Amazon provide a digital backup of their CDs for you, doesn't matter when you bought it. Extra value over HMV.Reply -
freggo There comes a time when a given product or service has outlived it's usefulness.Reply
Steam Locomotives, Video Tape rental places and Stores selling CDs come to mind; movie theaters are not far behind :-)
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dimar Elton John, how about promoting HD audio instead? Such as an exact studio quality releases without any digital conversion, using FLAC compression for example.Reply -
dimar halcyonIts a shame that I hadn't even heard of HMV outside of these latest Tom's articles.Reply
We have a large HMV store in downtown Montreal. But everything there is too overpriced.