I woke this morning to the news that HMV is closing 60 stores throughout the UK after a significant slump in sales (more).
I should have foreseen this, as it was only a week ago I trudged into my local HMV, clutching the £10 voucher someone bought me for my birthday. Which was last October.
This was my second visit to the music/game/you-name-it-we-got-it store and I was met with the exact same problem. What do you buy at HMV these days?
Music? No, iTunes exists.
A book? No, Amazon and iBooks exist.
A DVD? No, Play.com exists.
A computer game? No, Game Station exists.
A JLS calendar? No. Just, no.
Suffice to say, I walked out empty handed, again. There is a very real chance the voucher will spend the rest of its sorry life nestled in my wallet behind the dog-eared National Insurance card.
As someone I follow on Twitter eloquently put it this morning: “…what I most miss about buying cds and records is the artwork, reading the credits, etc. Music is so fucking disposable now…”.
And it is. What a shame.
…anyone want to buy a £10 HMV voucher?
