Two more retail companies look doomed

[Bert Trautmanns Helemet]

It's about market share not profit for them at the moment. Once they've rented the space in your head that Google and Facebook currently occupy, that 5bn will be easily increased to 10bn.

Spotify has 83m subscribers in 2018 up from 57m in 2017. Thats over +40% growth.
Stick a couple of small annual price increases on those numbers and the 1.5b loss will be
wiped away pretty quickly.
As you say its about market share and scale at the moment with investment in infrastructure
and marketing.
Spotify will will be highly profitable very soon.

 

[BimboBob]

Spotify has 83m subscribers in 2018 up from 57m in 2017. Thats over +40% growth.
Stick a couple of small annual price increases on those numbers and the 1.5b loss will be
wiped away pretty quickly.
As you say its about market share and scale at the moment with investment in infrastructure
and marketing.
Spotify will will be highly profitable very soon.

I've never used Spotify and probably never will. It seems a weird business model to me, paying for something I already have at home.

If I hear a song I like then I will buy the album. Hopefully it's available on vinyl but if not then in digital form. I have 4tb of music in the house which the Sonos speakers feed off. A big USB in the car as well. Not forgetting the vinyl. Love a vinyl record me.

HMV for me, especially in recent times, did fill a small hole in my music buying. I love a second hand vinyl shop but new albums, and occasionally 180g reissues, I bought either from Amazon or HMV. For the ease of the Amazon experience you do really want to be in when they deliver vinyl. HMV was a nice, and quite empty, place to browse. They usually stocked the new stuff plus you could pick up a book or two, a poster or a t-shirt. What else do you need as a music lover?

I'm slightly unhappy that they are shutting, might have to make a trip on Monday to see what's on offer, but it won't really affect me. More and more shops are selling new vinyl. And there's always the "placed it behind your green bin in the rain that's ok isn't it?" Amazon delivery people.

 

[kippax_blueboy]

I've never used Spotify and probably never will. It seems a weird business model to me, paying for something I already have at home.

If I hear a song I like then I will buy the album. Hopefully it's available on vinyl but if not then in digital form. I have 4tb of music in the house which the Sonos speakers feed off. A big USB in the car as well. Not forgetting the vinyl. Love a vinyl record me.

HMV for me, especially in recent times, did fill a small hole in my music buying. I love a second hand vinyl shop but new albums, and occasionally 180g reissues, I bought either from Amazon or HMV. For the ease of the Amazon experience you do really want to be in when they deliver vinyl. HMV was a nice, and quite empty, place to browse. They usually stocked the new stuff plus you could pick up a book or two, a poster or a t-shirt. What else do you need as a music lover?

I'm slightly unhappy that they are shutting, might have to make a trip on Monday to see what's on offer, but it won't really affect me. More and more shops are selling new vinyl. And there's always the "placed it behind your green bin in the rain that's ok isn't it?" Amazon delivery people.

Time are changing, I have two lads 20 & 18 who have never bought a record, CD or DVD they have always legally or illegally streamed them. I no longer buy I also pay for Netflix and Spotify. If you go into HMV or FOP the majority of customers are middle-aged men. Of course some people will always buy music physical music but this number will dwindle and there will be no need for FOP or HMV unless they start selling second hand vinyl and undercut the market. Then they might survive with selling tech as well.

 

[sir baconface]

To ignore the effect of Brexit is to stick your head in the sand in denial as most brexshiteers do.

You sound a right know-all dick-cheese.

 

[BimboBob]

Time are changing, I have two lads 20 & 18 who have never bought a record, CD or DVD they have always legally or illegally streamed them. I no longer buy I also pay for Netflix and Spotify. If you go into HMV or FOP the majority of customers are middle-aged men. Of course some people will always buy music physical music but this number will dwindle and there will be no need for FOP or HMV unless they start selling second hand vinyl and undercut the market. Then they might survive with selling tech as well.

You do realise that vinyl sales are on the up? Most of the top 20 album sales this year are because of reissues. Physical music is on the up. Admittedly in the older generation but I see a lot more youngsters buying it now.

 

[The Preacher]

You do realise that vinyl sales are on the up? Most of the top 20 album sales this year are because of reissues. Physical music is on the up. Admittedly in the older generation but I see a lot more youngsters buying it now.

My son and so many of his mates now completely into vinyl. And spending quite a lot money on it.

 

[kippax_blueboy]

My son and so many of his mates now completely into vinyl. And spending quite a lot money on it.

Yup, I know that but only a small percent of people buy vinyl even cassette sales are on the increase.

 

[Bert Trautmanns Helemet]

Time are changing, I have two lads 20 & 18 who have never bought a record, CD or DVD they have always legally or illegally streamed them. I no longer buy I also pay for Netflix and Spotify. If you go into HMV or FOP the majority of customers are middle-aged men. Of course some people will always buy music physical music but this number will dwindle and there will be no need for FOP or HMV unless they start selling second hand vinyl and undercut the market. Then they might survive with selling tech as well.

I'm 60 years old and Haven't bought a CD in years never mind vinyl! I 100% stream or use MP3 / WAV files for my music.
I also have iTunes, Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime & IPTV to stream music and films.
Vinyl is such a tiny percentage of the music market - even if it is on the increase it is negligible. I would also hazard a guess
that a considerable amount of vinyl sales is now also done on line via specialist dealers - both new & second hand.
The HMV type of store / business model is truly dead. RIP physical musical...

 

[discopop]

The real death of owned music was the CD for me, sold as the future proof of music you could even play it with jam smeared on according to tomorrow’s world but just look at the fucking thing in the wrong way and it was scratched and skipped to fuck and the price they were charging for something far inferior to Vinyl was criminal. The mini disk was a nice piece of equipment but was quickly out done by MP3 players and as oon as streaming came on board that was it for physical music sellers who had then to rely on DVD’s for propping up sales and that lasted well didn’t it.

Spotify would make a lot more money if they could nail down security, the amount of hookie account sellers I know of who are banging out a full account for £15 a year is unreal.

 

[bluetonium]

Used to visit HMV every week after I worked a Saturday shift, even if I didn't buy something I marvelled at the imports and rare albums. Now I can get them faster, cheaper and at a better quality of sound online. I haven't been in a HMV since probably around 2006, they just don't offer anything that I would want to buy despite me being a big music, movie and gaming fan. Which is pretty sad when you think of it.

Debenhams is another one on the ropes. Went in last Christmas and the store itself seemed confused about what it was supposed to be trying to sell me. A smattering do everything but more expensive than elsewhere and not as much choice. Yet when I was in Mannheim recently the debemhamd style department stores are thriving over there.

Passed a CEX shop today too, how on earth do they keep trading? Wanted £38 for a used copy of a ps4 game, which is being sold next door new at Asda for 28, and at Argos and Amazon for 27. Yet they'd apparently happily give me 12 for my own copy, they surely much have a huge stock of media that they just can't shift on..