Elton John Wants to Help Ailing HMV UK

[JMcEntegart]

Superstar wants to help out ailing music chain.

Elton John Wants to Help Ailing HMV UK : Read more

 

[deksman]

Pointless.
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.

 

[halcyon]

Its a shame that I hadn't even heard of HMV outside of these latest Tom's articles.

 

[cozmosis]

Fact 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.

 

[silverblue]

Of real concern is the music of lesser artists that sits on HMV shelves as these stores are closing.

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]

[citation][nom]cozmosis[/nom]Fact 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.[/citation]
Amazon provide a digital backup of their CDs for you, doesn't matter when you bought it. Extra value over HMV.

 

[zybch]

This is the same idiot that wanted to ban the internet right?

 

[freggo]

There comes a time when a given product or service has outlived it's usefulness.
Steam Locomotives, Video Tape rental places and Stores selling CDs come to mind; movie theaters are not far behind

 

[IndignantSkeptic]

What Sir Elton John is doing is ludditism. It should not be encouraged.

 

[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.

 

[dimar]

[citation][nom]halcyon[/nom]Its a shame that I hadn't even heard of HMV outside of these latest Tom's articles.[/citation]

We have a large HMV store in downtown Montreal. But everything there is too overpriced.

 

[bnot]

Just as long as he doesn't adapt "Candle in the Wind" again

Goodbye HMV. May you ever close your stores.....

 

[ZakTheEvil]

Elton who?

 

[kitekrazy1963]

At least give him credit. Usually wealthy people prefer to use other people's resources by persuading a government

 

[ubercake]

When are these stores going to realize we do not need to hold music in our hands any longer? Just give me a place where I can populate my music in the cloud and play my music from anywhere. If HMV doesn't adapt and offer this type of service and compete, they will not survive.