A 170% increase in vinyl sales year on year has led to HMV overtaking Amazon as the bigger seller of physical music in the UK.
The vinyl revival, which HMV has put its full weight behind by offering a huge collection of music available on the old format in many of their branches, has provided a much needed boost for the struggling entertainment company.
According to the Telegraph, the recent resurgence in the popularity of vinyls greatly attributed to their recent success, with the company also performing well financially over the Christmas period. The Telegraph notes that one in three DVD or CDs sold in the UK in the fortnight leading up to Christmas were purchased from HMV.
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While the entertainment industry is undoubtedly heading the way of digital downloads and online shopping, with high street stores almost certainly on their way out, these figures show that there is still a demand for physical music. Though HMV went into administration back in 2013, 144 out of 233 effected stores were snapped up restructuring company Hilco, with chief executive Paul McGowan having this to say about the news: “HMV has captured more and more market share in a year when major new movie releases have been scarce and there have been only a few major album successes.
“With a bumper year of new releases already planned for 2015 we expect to have overall growth in like-for-like DVD and Blu-ray sales as well as continued growth in the physical music sector with vinyl also expected to continue its revival.”
With vinyls having reached their highest sales point since the mid-’90s and HMV returning to its position as Britain’s biggest seller of physical music, it seems the high streets are fighting back. But how long can this last?
