Many many businesses DEAD

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I love looking at vinyl, but only in charity shops.

Do HMV still own Fopp? Although I don't know how many of them there are now.
 
lolly said:
I love looking at vinyl, but only in charity shops.

Do HMV still own Fopp? Although I don't know how many of them there are now.
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I am the same but the price point of new vinyl still has to drop to a point where it becomes valid for me really. £20+ for an album is still too much.

I think they do own Fopp but they ripped out the very point of it when they took over. You rarely get a bargain there either...
 
Ag said:
I still love browsing vinyl. Stumbling over Ride on Time yesterday was a sheer joy. I cannot be the only one. If I want a new one I'll probably order online as HMV are so expensive.
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They branched into the used CD market for a while, though I think that seems to have stopped. They should definitely do so in the used vinyl market...
 
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The HMV here has an enormous corner of the downstairs devoted to selling MUGS and those dreadful Funko Pop things, so I have no idea what their strategy is :confused:
 
I went to HMV a few weeks ago (the big Bond Street branch) and did pick up that Janet Jackson album for £2.99 (still haven't played it), but had half an hour to wait for a friend so did spend the time browsing.

I just got sick of the abundance of rubbish pop culture toys, T-Shirts and accessories on the ground floor. Some were fun, but walls and walls of those Mini Pop figures or whatever they are seemed silly. Do they actually sell in numbers? While the T-Shirts did come in a huge range (but again, usually only XL for men and nothing at all for women), if I wanted something specific they probably didn't have it, and a website definitely would.
 
The Vinyl Pop! figures are actually really popular - and I think that probably IS the sort of thing that HMV should be pursuing - but it's done in a really half hearted way - I think Sheena's point about the staff attitude is one that seems to extend through the way the company operates.

Realistically a lot of people aren't going to go into HMV to buy CDs and DVDs, particularly not those who have embraced Spotify, Netflix, et al. But there are still LOADS of people who are passionate about music and TV/film. So I don't really get why they don't turn it into a place where someone who LOVES music could go and indulge their passion - they have t-shirts and merchandise but it's all really haphazardly placed throughout the store, but surely that's what people are MORE likely to buy if it's accessible and competitively priced. Just because Madonna (for example) doesn't sell as many albums as she used to, it doesn't mean she doesn't still have a rabid fanbase who would buy merchandise.

I suppose you can't cater for every taste, but they already theme their A-Z of CDs so why not go one further and theme parts of the store. Have your rock CDs in one section with merchandise from popular acts, the same with R&B, pop (and you could probably split that into various sections). Have some TVs up playing music videos with user generated playlists so people actually STAY in the shop (they do it in Burtons - or at least they used to). Make it visually LOOK like a place that you'd walk into and think "Yeah, these guys love music as much as I do".

I won't go into HMV and buy a Britney Spears CD, but if they had some merchandise, I'd be likely to pick up a t-shirt or a keyring, etc. because it's a bit of a novelty. And like him or not, people would probably buy Ed Sheeran merchandise - or whoever is currently popular. But the point is if they actually themed the stores you wouldn't even have to see merchandise from acts you have no interest in, whereas at the moment the music, movie and TV merchandise is all muddled together.

It just seems quite laxidasical - going back to the Vinyl Pop! figures, there are a lot of collectors of them and they're all numbered - but HMV don't order them by number, they're just scattered randomly throughout the store. If they're going to stock them, stock them and display them PROPERLY so that people can browse or know that they can get what they want - for example I bought two of the Golden Girls ones when I saw them in a different store and I want to get the other two, but I wouldn't know where to start in HMV because they're everywhere and in no real order.

One of my absolute favourite stores is Forbidden Planet and I see that more as the direction that HMV should go. Granted there aren't many of them but they completely GET their audience (and the staff are really knowledgable). They don't sell video games, but they sell loads of video game merchandise. They don't sell DVDs but they sell loads of movie/TV merchandise. The Vinyl Pop! figures are stocked in number order and they point out which ones are limited edition. They have quite a lot of comic books, but their main crux appears to be knowing that their market will get movies and games more cheaply than they could sell in-store, so instead they offer stuff you wouldn't see anywhere else - and it works.
 
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When I was in Brighton, I noticed an HMV that was closing down - it was in a decent sized shopping centre which didn't seem to be struggling for footfall on a (dry) Thursday afternoon. Felt a little ominous.

I bought 4 CDs yesterday but that was my first of the year (which is partly circumstantial, I admit).
 
I have a Pop! figure of Chthulu. He sits to the right hand side of my television. I have a small Rainbow Dash figure to the left.
 
Coming from someone who used to spend upwards of £200 a month on CDs, I barely go into HMV now. Everything is cheaper online, and I can;t actually remember the last time I bought any phyisical media anyway. I am actually surprised that HMV have lasted this long!
 
I just went in the HMV here, as I was passing, and inspired by this thread. Slave is right in what he's saying about the merchandise. It's pretty much EVERYWHERE in the shop, but there was absolutely no thought behind it (well, beyond 'we'll plonk those there') I could see, anyway.

They also had three of those mobile browsing units still about 90% full of calendars as well. And they still want half price for them. Wilkinson had them all (and a lot of the same ones) at 70% off a fortnight ago and seem to have cleared them all. But even all the calendar stands weren't together but scattered throughout the store. You could easily just leave thinking they didn't have what you were after.
 
Idea for clickbait:

THIS IS WHAT KYLIE DOES TO YOUR BRAIN
 
octophone said:
When I was in Brighton, I noticed an HMV that was closing down - it was in a decent sized shopping centre which didn't seem to be struggling for footfall on a (dry) Thursday afternoon. Felt a little ominous.
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I was reading about the closure of that store after Slave posted about it yesterday. Apparently they hope to relocate but haven't been able to find appropriate alternative premises.

I find that really quite ODD in a city the size of Brighton, considering how its shopping area is already larger than most cities of its size, presumably as its such a strong regional centre and tourist pull. And that I struggle to think the rent is extortionate considering other stores that occupy that shopping centre. And that this must have been coming for months.
 
I disagree with the arguments that say no one buys physical music anymore- they absolutely do. Vinyl is surging upwards with every week (EVERYONE seemed to get a record player for Christmas this year, it was this year's must have seemingly), but absolutely fuck all has been done to embrace it. Example: I had no idea all Madonna's albums had come out on vinyl in the last couple of years (they are all readily available on Amazon) and there's never been a single one in my HMV. However, I heard "Bedtime Stories" was coming out and looked it up on Amazon but rejected buying it ultimately as I didn't want to spend £15 on something I already had. A month later, in Fopp and saw it for £20ish- thought it looked beautiful and couldn't resist buying it. Now I know I'm a Madonna fan, but an artist like her, who will have across the board appeal, or Jackson or Prince should be readily stocked in every HMV for just this purpose. It's not rocket science.

See also Sainsbury's launch of vinyl and the limited edition "Classic Albums" they did, which had Madonna fans (myself included) going to 3 or 4 stores trying to track the coloured vinyls of "True Blue" and "Like A Prayer" for exhorbitant prices. That (and the so called "exclusive" versions) HAVE to be the way forward but they're just not embracing it AT ALL and instead are peddling fucking MUGS!
 
I'm sure Ag did one a while back. Although how long 'a while' is, I don't know.
 
Sheena said:
I disagree with the arguments that say no one buys physical music anymore- they absolutely do. Vinyl is surging upwards with every week (EVERYONE seemed to get a record player for Christmas this year, it was this year's must have seemingly), but absolutely fuck all has been done to embrace it.
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I think probably the issue, as you've identified is that as lot of people now don't buy music/movies in the way that HMV are trying to sell them.

But all the same, however you consume music, it doesn't alter the fact that it is being consumed and that it still has a lot of fans. HMV just don't seem to be able to look past the fact that what's at the top of the charts is not where the ££ is - certainly not outside of winter in any case. Generally the current artists at the top of the chart are the ones whose audiences will be geared towards streaming so shoving physical products in their faces is not going to achieve a great deal.

But absolutely offer something different and people will buy it. Particularly with your heritage acts whose fans probably have a bit more disposable income.
 
They had a copy of SPICE on vinyl in Urban Outfitters recently. I don't even have a record player but I ALMOST indulged.
 
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lolly said:
I'm sure Ag did one a while back. Although how long 'a while' is, I don't know.
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About 7 years, as it happens.

Slave said:
Particularly with your heritage acts whose fans probably have a bit more disposable income.
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Hence the huge boom in massive box sets and the high prices attached to them.

These create a different kind of trouble for a retailer. Pink Floyd issued that massive pricey box set and stores had to make a decision on whether or not to carry it. If you take too many and don't sell them, you have a very expensive white elephant, take too few and it's a missed opportunity.
 
I just don't think there are many of younger generation buying physical music. I know people in their mid 20s that have never actually paid for a song/album before. They subscribe to Spotify/Apple Music but have never put down money for an individual product. They actually laugh at me when I do!
 
octophone said:
Hence the huge boom in massive box sets and the high prices attached to them.

These create a different kind of trouble for a retailer. Pink Floyd issued that massive pricey box set and stores had to make a decision on whether or not to carry it. If you take too many and don't sell them, you have a very expensive white elephant, take too few and it's a missed opportunity.
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Speaking of which, I saw HMV Bristol this morning had 5 copies of the ludicrously expensive (at least compared to the standard version) recent Human League anthology. That's a theoretical £400+ revenue they don't have a hope of actually seeing.
 
The HMV here went to the trouble of relocating a few doors down at some point within the last 9 months or so. Like most other people have said, I walk past but rarely go in.
 
For people who are buying vinyl, are you buying new releases? For some reason I always compare it to when people first got CD players, and a lot of money was spent with 'upgrading' albums people already had. I know new releases are being released on the format though, so obviously some people are. It's not just vinyl anniversary releases or releases of albums not previously released on the format.

Like Sheena says, LOADS of people seemed to get record players last Christmas. I'm sure they must have been one of the top gifts, but I imagine mostly for people of a certain age. And so I wonder therefore what the long term prospects are going forward. Because I do agree with Ellie's point around a whole generation coming through who have never bought a physical product. Are they going to be convinced to buy it?
 
I actually don't own anything that I can play physical music on anymore :o

My laptop doesn't have a disc drive, my car is USB/bluetooth and my bedroom speaker is Sonos.

All those poor solo Spice CD singles languishing in my garage next to Scooch and Mandy Moore's debut albums.
 
I got a record player last year as an anniversary present from Mr K, but I wouldn't even consider buying new stuff on vinyl, I got it so I can play my Sonia 12 inch singles and convert all my old vinyl stuff that is not available digitally so I can convert to mp3, and buy old crap from Discogs too. I DID get the Collectors Editions of the Kylie box sets at the tail end of last year when they were cheap, but I'd never consider actually PLAYING the vinyl.
 
Pretty sure I've used my record player every day since I got it at Christmas. I'm a bit hooked on sourcing 12" dance classics.
 
Kalabaliken said:
I got a record player last year as an anniversary present from Mr K, but I wouldn't even consider buying new stuff on vinyl, I got it so I can play my Sonia 12 inch singles and convert all my old vinyl stuff that is not available digitally so I can convert to mp3, and buy old crap from Discogs too. I DID get the Collectors Editions of the Kylie box sets at the tail end of last year when they were cheap, but I'd never consider actually PLAYING the vinyl.
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This is what I was wondering with regard to new vinyl. I know there are purists who prefer the sound of vinyl to CD, but I imagine most of these recently popular record players (most of which seem to be below £100) don't have great sound quality. In terms of listening to new music, I imagine I'd much prefer to play a CD if I was into physical rather than digital or streaming.

Of course I appreciate that vinyl is far more attractive physically in terms of holding and looking at the product, and the artwork. And if you're into digging out old vinyl and browsing charity shops it's a different matter.
 
Yeah the sound quality of mine isn't life changing. Gonna invest in some decent speakers.
 
I know quite a lot of people in their early 20s with record players. I'm not sure if that says that vinyl is the future or if I just hang out with a lot of wanky hipsters. Maybe both.
 
My 18-year-old stepdaughter has one of those super cute Crosley Cruiser things. Totes the coolest person in her university halls :disco:
 
Kate said:
My 18-year-old stepdaughter has one of those super cute Crosley Cruiser things. Totes the coolest person in her university halls :disco:
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Apparently they DESTROY your vinyl! Stay well away!
 
Oh, and stepdaughter? Is there something you aren't telling us, Kate? :o
 
No, I was just too lazy to write "Mr Kate's daughter". But NOW YOU'VE MADE ME, DAMN YOU
 
lolly said:
Speaking of which, I saw HMV Bristol this morning had 5 copies of the ludicrously expensive (at least compared to the standard version) recent Human League anthology. That's a theoretical £400+ revenue they don't have a hope of actually seeing.
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Interesting cause I imagine the rationale behind the The Human League set being stocked is because they think older people will be more interested, older people aren't that tech savvy to shop online. Thing is, the age bracket is surely middle aged rather than "old" (as in my parents old) and EVERYONE of that age knows how to shop online now (hell, even my parents do...)

Also, I think HMV is still on "Sale or Return" with the suppliers, which was part of the "Save HMV" deal, so I don't think they're in trouble of losing the cash...
 
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