As a student I paid my way in life through working in HMV, and it became a part of me. As I was finishing up trouble had started to hit them, as people found that it was cheaper and faster to buy music and film online or just not pay for it! HMV were too slow to react to the shift in shopping habits. They tried various new shopping models, but when you’re faced with Apple’s successful creation of its own new eco system, it’s hard to compete. One thing led to another, and you’ll recall seeing in the press the amount of stores being forced into administration and the near death of the last music shop of the UK high street. Fortunately they were rescued by Hilco, a restructuring business who saw merit in the brand and also profit. I suppose it was a gamble, but the whole point of this post is that HMV are back at the top again. Physical sales are up (almost £10 million), it goes to show that we still want to buy the real thing.

Long live the music shop.