End of an Era: HMV on the verge of closing down

[linuxguru]

As the title says, 90+ year old music retailer HMV is on the verge of bankruptcy in the UK, after its lenders refused to lend more funds to the heavily-indebted company.

Not really music to ears: HMV faces closure; 4,000 jobs at risk - NDTVProfit.com

For those of us who're old enough to have bought music in the 60s and 70s in India, HMV was practically the only story in retail music, particularly vinyl LPs and later cassettes, until the dawn of the CD era in the 80s.

 

[Shyamtanu]

So sad to hear this, used to be a member with them during 2003-2004 in the UK, and they have really dominated with their range of products for a very long time. What is the cause? Most of our cassettes will not be there without HMV-EMI label. Music industry is really crumbling, plagiarism and piracy killing it together.

 

[jai1611]

HMV the retailer is distinct from the publisher. As you can imagine, physical CD sales isnt anywhere as big as it used to be.

 

[manzb]

So sad to hear this, used to be a member with them during 2003-2004 in the UK, and they have really dominated with their range of products for a very long time. What is the cause? Most of our cassettes will not be there without HMV-EMI label. Music industry is really crumbling, plagiarism and piracy killing it together.

More than that, COMPLACENCY is the main culprit in such cases.. They failed to evolve with time (atleast not fast enough).. the wind of change is much faster specially in the entertainment space of Music & Video.. Today Google & the likes are controlling the space, tomorrow it may be someone else, with better technology and strategy, which appeals & addresses the need of the consuming masses.

Even recently.. Nokia & BB were at the top of the world and thought they are invincible.. Apple did the applecart and Samsung followed with better strategy.. so now Nokia is considered a poor man's phone from the premium tag it used to carry.. the speed at which it is going downhill, soon it may go out of market as well, or might be a marginal player at the bottom of the heap

 

[sound and music]

I bought my first record player in 1981 which was also manufactured by HMV India. It may not be correct to blame the piracy for their decline (industry sources admit piracy affects 10-20 percent of their profits globally) but, more importantly, their entire business model has collapsed in the wake of digitalisation and online distribution.

 

[Shivam]

I am not sure how the Indian HMV is connected with the British HMV company. I do however have seen the poor quality of HMV CDs of late which also bear the saregama logo. Their original CDs themselves look like pirated discs and sound pathetic. Now when I buy Indian old music, I make sure that it is not being marketed by saregama / HMV.
HMV is loosing out because of the below average quality in my opinion.

 

[visvan1970]

I am not sure how the Indian HMV is connected with the British HMV company. I do however have seen the poor quality of HMV CDs of late which also bear the saregama logo. Their original CDs themselves look like pirated discs and sound pathetic. Now when I buy Indian old music, I make sure that it is not being marketed by saregama / HMV.
HMV is loosing out because of the below average quality in my opinion.

Heard that HMV india is now run by new age Management graduates who frankly dont know what music is! And care a damn for what they are sitting on. Pretty dishusting to say the least. As told by an insider!

 

[Hiten]

Anyone knows what happens to old Hindi songs master tapes or vinyl masters of HMV ?
Regards

 

[pksnathan]

So sad to hear the news that HMV is on the verge of closure.That dog standing in front of a loudspeaker is a very familiar figure for all the music lovers.I only wish that the present trade mark owners of HMV in India SA RE GA MA Limited can re issue all the best selling Indian vinyls.I am sure there will be a steady market for these vinyls.At least HMV may live in India.But I know this is a far sighted dream.
With regards,
pksnathn

 

[manzb]

HMV in india is part of SaReGaMa, which is owned by RPG group of Goenkas.. It has nothing to do with the HMV group of UK since long back..

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

HMV the retailer is distinct from the publisher. As you can imagine, physical CD sales isnt anywhere as big as it used to be.

Doesn't HMV the record label now belong to one of the few big music companies?

The UK economy is in a bad way. UK retail is struggling. The chains that killed the small stores are now facing death themselves.

Whilst the dog and the gramophone have been there longer than my musical life, just about all of my vinyl purchases, and, even my later CD purchases, would have been at small stores. I associate HMV as retailer with mega city-centre stores which I would never have spent much time in.

I suspect that part of their failure may have been some sort of identity crisis over whether they are a music shop, a phone shop, a computer-games shop, or... whatever.

Epitaph: If you are there at the end, check out the final-clearance bargains! Yep, vulture culture, but I'd be doing that if I were there.

My only emotional connect with this is the sad state of my mother country's economy.

 

[hydra]

...

I suspect that part of their failure may have been some sort of identity crisis over whether they are a music shop, a phone shop, a computer-games shop, or... whatever.
...

This is probably it. Moving away from what one has always stood for and diluting one's position usually sounds the death knell for most retailers. I've seen this happen to quite a few of the oldest and most established retailers in my city too (though not at the level of multi city chain stores). The oldest and the best bookstores could not resist stocking CDs, then cards, then stationary, then perfumes and so on. Soon they stopped becoming book stores and people stopped going to them to buy what they originally stood for.

 

[aks07]

..I associate HMV as retailer with mega city-centre stores which I would never have spent much time in.

I suspect that part of their failure may have been some sort of identity crisis over whether they are a music shop, a phone shop, a computer-games shop, or... whatever....

The very last per-recorded audio cassette I bought was at the HMV store in Birmingham High street. It was Steve Ray Vaughan In the Beginning. The year was 2006 and by then such per-recorded tapes had almost disappeared from most Indian stores.

Moreover, as I was checking out there was a pile of TDK blank tape packs next to the counter. On a spur I picked up two packs. They remain unused even now.

Cassette tapes occupied almost as much space as CD's in that stores. Either they had a big demand or they were plain stupid.

And you are pretty right about the focus of the business. They probably couldn't properly foresee the digital delivery model for recorded music.

Its a sad loss. I will be extra careful with my HMV stamped vinyl now !

 

[manzb]

Its a sad loss. I will be extra careful with my HMV stamped vinyl now !

I don't think that with the death of the HMV as a company the brand will also die. The brand may shift hands to someone else, considering that it still has a huge following and brand recall. In India the brand is owned by SaReGaMa.