Earlier this month, Music Week reported on the meaning of Q4 in the streaming age.
Looking at the impact of The Cure’s new album, it’s clear that the final three months of the year can still be significant for physical music in terms of the release schedule and sales.
With the return to its flagship store in London’s Oxford Street a year ago, HMV has been at the forefront of the physical music revival.
“We’re incredibly optimistic about the future of physical retail, and the recent reopening of our flagship store on Oxford Street pays testament to the strength of the business,” said HMV & Fopp MD Phil Halliday.
He added: “We see Europe as a big opportunity for us to take our HMV Shop concept to, and we’re planning to open more stores in Europe over the next few years, with stores already in Dublin, Antwerp and Brussels.
“Fopp is also going from strength to strength, as a haven for die-hard music fans. We recently opened a new Fopp store in Nottingham, our sixth in the country, and we’re eyeing up other locations in the UK.”
We’re incredibly optimistic about the future of physical retail
Phil Halliday
With a Q4 line-up still to include the return of Linkin Park, alongside recent releases by Coldplay, Charli XCX and Kylie Minogue, Halliday told Music Week the entertainment retailer expects “strong sales and high footfall across our stores as we head into the New Year”.
Halliday said that catalogue sales are also significant in the gifting season, with new releases including The Beatles’ 1964 US albums mono vinyl box set and ABBA’s 38-track collection, The Singles: The First Fifty Years.
But he also noted that physical music now draws in fans from different generations.
“While a large part of the growth in vinyl has come from classic artists, more and more we’re seeing contemporary artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan releasing new material in the vinyl format, and driving sales both in-store and online as a result,” said Hallday.
See our full Q4 report here.
PHOTO: Getty
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