[url= https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2017/02/hmv-to-lose-its-oxford-street-flagship ]Looks like Nipper's going to be without a kennel after 96 years. [/url]
So, even though HMV has [url= http://www.nme.com/news/music/various-artists-994-1217718 ]overtaken Amazon[/url] in the sales of physical media in Britain, the high street remains too challenging for them.
I have mixed feelings about HMV - yes, they were part of the massive music industry rip-off and haven't been able to sustain their business model, but it was a place of pilgrimage for a spotty teenage on a day trip to London: suddenly I could find recordings by all those bands I'd only read about in Melody Maker instead of paying attention to Mr Newbold's physics lessons.
[i]Tempora mutantur[/i]
hold the front page! shop which no-one shops at to close shocker!
Given the massive hike in business rates coming in April, I expect loads of barely profitable shops to shut in the South East....
the massive music industry rip-off
What was that then?
Not heard of the Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle? They made a film about it
What was that then?
[url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/28/how-the-compact-disc-lost-its-shine ]By the 1990s, the CD reigned supreme. As the economy boomed, annual global sales surpassed 1bn in 1992 and 2bn in 1996, and the profit margins were the stuff of dreams. The CD was cheaper than vinyl to manufacture, transport and rack in stores, while selling for up to twice as much. Even as costs fell, prices rose. “It was simple profiteering,” says Stephen Witt, whose new book How Music Got Free chronicles the industry’s vexed relationship with the MP3. “[Labels] would cut backroom deals with retailers not to let the price drop. The average price was $14 and the cost had gotten down almost to a dollar, so the rest was pure profit.”[/url]
I remember distinctly that (1) people were heavily encouraged to throw away their record collections and replace them with CDs. Thankfully my parents never did that (complete set of Beatles 45s), though my inlaws did. And (2) full priced CDs in the early 90s were easily £15 (equivalent of £30 today).
I remember distinctly that (1) people were heavily encouraged to throw away their record collections and replace them with CDs. Thankfully my parents never did that (complete set of Beatles 45s), though my inlaws did. And (2) full priced CDs in the early 90s were easily £15 (equivalent of £30 today).
And in reverse - the same is happening with vinyl now!
CDs are not cool, and vinyl is in - at £20 a pop for new.
And in reverse - the same is happening with vinyl now!CDs are not cool, and vinyl is in - at £20 a pop for new.
Arguably more so: there are very few pressing plants left and they're all using old technology, so once you take those sunk costs out the margins must be very impressive!
There's an old mill by the stream...
Meh, the cool kids went down Berwick St to Sister Ray and the other one a bit further along, in the market.
Pleased to see Sister Ray is still running. That was always my fave.
That must be about the last of the big record shops in London is it?
I used to love going into Virgin or Tower Records in Picadilly Circus when I was in London. A great way to kill a few hours 😀
Yep loved my trips to London to visit those vast HMV, Virgin and Tower Records shops. Virgin had a CD making machine in the basement back in those days.
Sister ray is tops and i always visit but it is half the size and opposite the old shop. Great to see it still going.
Did it move into the old Music & Video Exchange premises?
Do you remember what the record shop further down on the right was called? Next to the Beatroot café in the market?
Mainly used to Sister Ray, Rough Trade and that place for my vinyl needs.
Sister ray moved to a smaller unit directly opposite old site. I love their best of rack, last month i bought soulmining and have become obsessed with singing this is the day in the car. Their other 30 or so best of selection is pure class, talking heads, bowie, neil young etc.
Music and vid exchange is lower down away from oxford st, the other shop i think you refer to has or had a yellow front but i cant remember the name, was it mr cd.
Theres a rough trade round the corner, i used to buy at steves sounds on the passageway nearer leicester sq, long gone i m afraid. Berwick st is a lovely area having bar italia and govindas to drink/eat in nearby,
I must have been thinking of Vinyl Junkies...[img] 
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Shop looks right, but I don't remember that sign.
Sad day when Fopp over-extended and got bought out by HMV, which were always pretty poor in their selection, preferring tee shirts, videos and other assorted consumer tat to selling recordings.
Bath had two Fopp shops, which often hosted live promo shows by artists playing in the area, I'd often go in for a browse and come out with six or seven cd's from the cheap racks.