HMV Plans to increase vinyl stock in 2012

[Capture pt]

http://www.nme.com/news/miscellaneous/61453

not sure if repost

A spokesman for HMV has said that the high street chain is planning to step up the amount of vinyl it stocks in response to demand from customers.

The chain saw 'disappointing' sales over Christmas, but its official spokesman told NME that they're still hopeful for the future and are planning to bulk up what they offer in vinyl stock. They also said that the stores will never turn their back on stocking physical music.

Asked about what changes HMV would be bringing in 2012, the chain's official spokesman told NME: "A lot of customers have been asking us to increase the amount of racking we dedicate to music instore and we're pleased to say we'll be doing a lot more of that soon - in fact we're also planning to significantly increase our range of vinyl in quite a few locations as well."

HMV's spokesman also told NME that despite the chain's recent decision to give more in store prominence to video games games and technological products such as tablet computers, the stocking of physical music would always be a part of what HMV offered.

Asked if they could ever see a time where HMV would not stock physical music, the spokesman replied: "We're seeing a gradual shift both to online and digital channels, which we're a part of as well and we see multi-channel as definitely being the way forward. However, we also believe there's a bedrock level of demand for physical music product that will continue to ensure there is some kind of high street offer for some time to come."

They continued: "Unlike singles, around 75% of albums are still sold in CD format, and a sizeable chunk of these are bought by customers who like to purchase them instore. A lot of us talk about having a vibrant high street at the heart of the community, but that's not going to happen by itself - if that's what people want, then, along with buying online and downloading, they also need to support their local stores and specialist chains."

Pretty awesome - our local HMV (Southampton) used to always have a dope selection of vinyl since I started mixing, only recently (2nd half of 2011) they stopped stocking. Good to see it might come back, even if it is only because no one is buying CDs anymore. Still, a roundabout win for vinyl. (Think: Do it for the love of vinyl, not profitttssssss - but business is business I guess!)

[DRTY]

My local used to have a good selection too, used to buy a lot of D&B there. But they stopped for some reason! It was always a busy part of the shop

[meanmrcustard]

Could be good if they start stocking more (and more wide ranging) vinyl for sale on their site, I've bought a few bits off there in the last few months (some Pearson Sound, and the Sully album) and the fact they don't charge for post makes them by far the cheapest.

[jheri]

Yeah I did a temporary stint there over Christmas and a fair amount of people were asking if we sold vinyl. We'll be lucky if they manage to stay open through 2012 though...

[wormcode]

That's cool, hopefully they stock electronic music too though. Pop and rock genres are still pressed too, stores I've seen starting to stock vinyl again don't have much electronic except stuff like daft punk and big beat type stuff.

[AntlionUK]

Ask in store and you should be able to order it, if not then order it off the website and you'll get it free delivery. All the better for me as means I can get more tunes on discount

[dubloke]

they used to have some pretty decent stuff in there. Think I got Skreamizm 3 or 4 from HMV? never understood why they stopped, was normally pretty busy in the piccadilly circus one

[jameshk]

Bring it back, used to get a lot of vinyl from hmv.

[Capture pt]

i used to buy all my D&B from there back in the day also.


never knew they done it online. and free shipping - wowzer. Paid a tenner for my Swims copy when shipping was brought into the equation.

[didi]

That's sick, but no HMV's near me stocked vinyl recently, to the best of my knowledge.

Were there listening posts in the stores? I could see it getting a bit hectic in-store, with novelty buyers.

[Snaps]

Good news. The hmv near me used to have some big grime white labels back in the day

[Blenky]

The first time I ever saw a vinyl record was in Leeds's big HMV. I thought that because people were getting them out and playing them they were free and almost walked out of the shop with one.

[Motorway to Roswell]

big up his master's voice

[mcguiganking]

this is good news but surely we should be supporting local, independent record stores when possible?

[Motorway to Roswell]

this is good news but surely we should be supporting local, independent record stores when possible?

why can't you support both?

[mcguiganking]

this is good news but surely we should be supporting local, independent record stores when possible?

why can't you support both?

you can. But if anyones going to be making money from selling records it shouldn't be the people who abandon it when it doesn't make them a lot of money, it should be the people who stick with it to support the format IMO

[Motorway to Roswell]

this is good news but surely we should be supporting local, independent record stores when possible?

why can't you support both?

you can. But if anyones going to be making money from selling records it shouldn't be the people who abandon it when it doesn't make them a lot of money, it should be the people who stick with it to support the format IMO

I agree but if there are only small, independent stores providing vinyl there will be less demand and the likelihood is more pressing plants will close. If you've got big chains like HMV (regardless of their reasons) selling vinyl, it will contribute to keeping the format going. They might just stock say Lana Del Rey's album just to make money but having releases like that on vinyl will create more demand for it.

I'm all for supporting local, independent stores. When I have the chance I do buy from them rather than a bigger retailer but there's a bigger picture than just your local store.

I don't think hmv stocking more records will stop anyone who normally shops at their local record store continuing to shop there.

[mcguiganking]

this is good news but surely we should be supporting local, independent record stores when possible?

why can't you support both?

you can. But if anyones going to be making money from selling records it shouldn't be the people who abandon it when it doesn't make them a lot of money, it should be the people who stick with it to support the format IMO

I agree but if there are only small, independent stores providing vinyl there will be less demand and the likelihood is more pressing plants will close. If you've got big chains like HMV (regardless of their reasons) selling vinyl, it will contribute to keeping the format going. They might just stock say Lana Del Rey's album just to make money but having releases like that on vinyl will create more demand for it.

I'm all for supporting local, independent stores. When I have the chance I do buy from them rather than a bigger retailer but there's a bigger picture than just your local store.

I don't think hmv stocking more records will stop anyone who normally shops at their local record store continuing to shop there.

yeah your right, i remember buying africa bambata - planet rock from hmv for 3 quid so i suppose i owe them

[magma]

Interesting to see how well this works and how long they can keep it up. Although it's a little bit sad, the Internet really is an awful lot better for buying music than most proper storefronts... independent or not, it's difficult for anywhere with a showroom to offer the kind of stock/experience that Boomkat, Bleep etc do online.

[legend4ry]

Was up in the one in Oxford Street the other day (while record shopping in Berwick Street..) it was packed out but the selection seemed pretty grim.