madmurray
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I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,846
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Post by madmurray on Jan 9, 2011 21:44:53 GMT 1
Yes nearly always online and not in-store for some strange reason.  Not strange at all. The online operation is based in the Channel Islands so there is no VAT. There are also much lower overheads which more than pays for the free postage. Also, it costs next to nothing to change the online price while it takes a lot more effort to reprice everything in-store. Good points which makes a lot more sense to being cheaper on-line. |
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Post by raliverpool on Jan 22, 2011 19:38:00 GMT 1
Forgot to post this earlier this week:
More trouble for HMV
Shares drop after insurance levels cut
BBC 6 MUSIC NEWS
19/01/2011
Shares in HMV have dropped after two companies who provide the high street retailer with CD's and DVD's said they had had their level of insurance cut.
Companies unable to obtain insurance for sales, trade at their own risk. It also means insurance companies are concerned about HMV's ability to pay its debts.
A similar scenario happened shortly before companies like Zavvi and Woolworths closed down, signalling a major blow to their business.
However, the BBC's business editor Robert Peston says suppliers will still want to trade with HMV: "They really rate HMV, and they're desperate for it to survive... most of the ones I have spoken to say they are continuing to supply HMV and take the risk."
Supermarkets are the other option for many suppliers, but they come with their own unique set of problems, such as only stocking mainstream titles as Robert Peston explains: "There is not much of a back catalogue... you don't get the more obscure bands, and the arty films.
In terms of retail sales and the high street HMV is a pretty unique organisation these days."
Independents and companies representing smaller, niche bands or groups which are no longer in fashion will be taking the biggest risk, but they're willing according to Robert Peston: "The supermarkets simply won't touch them with a bargepole.
Therefore if we don't have HMV, then they become almost totally reliant on the internet, right now my sense is that many of these small companies will take the risk."
Independent label One Little Indian comments:
Michelle Polley is the product manager for One Little Indian Records, a label who have released albums by the likes of The Fireman, Bjork and Emiliana Torrini, agrees: "Small independents have been disappearing from the high street for some time of course but a chain of shops specialising in our kind of music disappearing from the high street would be disastrous.
"I think it's largely a matter of bad timing - everyone has had a difficult Christmas and with VAT rising, these most recent figures are likely to make things appear worse in the short term than perhaps they are," she continued.
HMV said in a statement that credit insurers are reviewing the level of cover they provide on the group: "Whilst this has resulted in the reduction in the availability of credit insurance to certain of the company's suppliers, our business remains a core channel to market for them."
Earlier this month, the group, which also owns Waterstone's bookshops, said it was closing 60 shops this year as a result of falling sales. HMV issued a profit warning at the beginning of January after poor sales in the run-up to Christmas.
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Further evidence IMHO that HMV disappearing would be a disaster for the music industry, especially to those not creating Top 40 music.
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Post by suedehead on Jan 22, 2011 19:52:57 GMT 1
The big difference is that Zavvi and Woolies were already loss-making businesses when this happened while HMV are still making a profit, just not a very big profit.
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Post by raliverpool on Jan 22, 2011 20:18:19 GMT 1
The big difference is that Zavvi and Woolies were already loss-making businesses when this happened while HMV are still making a profit, just not a very big profit. True. But long term their business model has been heading in the wrong direction...... hence if that continues to extrapolate then they will become a loss-making business. |
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Post by Earl Purple on Jan 23, 2011 9:34:02 GMT 1
I really hope they dont go altogether. It will be the death of music for me as i hate all this download mp3. I want something to hold, to look at, to cherish... you cant do that with an mp3. You can hold a flash drive. And it can hold hundreds of mp3s, enough to listen to for a couple of days. True that mp3 isn't the most perfect format, we should be listening to lossless FLAC. It's nice to know also you can back up your music conveniently. Some may say recorded music altogether was the "death of music" - you want to be there with the band playing live... that's "real". |
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madmurray
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I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,846
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Post by madmurray on Jan 23, 2011 10:17:35 GMT 1
I still think companies like play and amazon who sell cds two or three pound cheaper are going to be the death of HMV.
Which is a shame as I still remember the excitement of the HMV store opening in our town all those years ago.
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Post by raliverpool on Mar 16, 2011 20:11:43 GMT 1
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Post by o on Mar 16, 2011 20:53:57 GMT 1
I want to order Paloma Faith's album from them for £4.99, but am worried they'll go under before they send it out  |
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Simona
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*Beowulf*
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Post by Simona on Mar 18, 2011 1:44:46 GMT 1
I still think companies like play and amazon who sell cds two or three pound cheaper are going to be the death of HMV. Which is a shame as I still remember the excitement of the HMV store opening in our town all those years ago. Agreed. I forget HMV even exists, most of the time.... Play was in a difficult situation at the beginning of digital era but they've managed well. Amazon is the mammoth that never dies, though I rarely find cheap items there. I'm a bit oportunistic in buying music, I go with the best deal money&music -wise. I'll still pay a bit extra for a certain B-side, artwork etc. |
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Post by Doctor Blind on Mar 18, 2011 17:23:54 GMT 1
I still buy a lot of my music at HMV, especially all the physical stuff! I even have their reward card 'pure hmv' and a load of reward points to claim on it. I really hope they can survive whatever financial trouble they are in. |
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Post by suedehead on Mar 21, 2011 1:08:09 GMT 1
The share price got a boost when the MD gave a relatively buoyant forecast. There seem to be two immediate risks. One is that those of us who have loyalty cards all choose to redeem our points just in case they vanish. The other is that people stop making advance orders online. Assuming very few advance orders are cancelled then they represent some welcome guaranteed future income.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2011 1:40:08 GMT 1
I still buy a lot of my music at HMV, especially all the physical stuff! I even have their reward card 'pure hmv' and a load of reward points to claim on it. I really hope they can survive whatever financial trouble they are in. Same here, always shopped there, and always will as long as they're there. I hope too they can survive, the music industry needs them as there is nothing else on the high street...not everyone downloads!! |
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Post by Chris on Mar 21, 2011 19:20:02 GMT 1
I want to order Paloma Faith's album from them for £4.99, but am worried they'll go under before they send it out LOL. Doubt that very much.  |
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madmurray
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I Am A Lizard King
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Post by madmurray on Mar 21, 2011 19:42:38 GMT 1
I read in one of the papers that HMV have put Waterstones up for sale to keep the banks off their back. Must show how bad they are.
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Post by o on Mar 21, 2011 19:44:36 GMT 1
Paloma Faith ordered!
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Post by S1m on Mar 21, 2011 19:51:51 GMT 1
The share price got a boost when the MD gave a relatively buoyant forecast. There seem to be two immediate risks. One is that those of us who have loyalty cards all choose to redeem our points just in case they vanish. The other is that people stop making advance orders online. Assuming very few advance orders are cancelled then they represent some welcome guaranteed future income. Whoops! I redeemed all mine last week!  |
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Mar 22, 2011 8:56:15 GMT 1
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