They forgot to mention that ‘legal’ downloading is hurting sales also, they always point the finger at illegal downloading and forget that they were too late to react to digital downloads both legal and illegal. The movie, TV and press industries are all headed the same way, you snooze you loose. They all need to innovate their way out off this and stop fighting what is inevitable.

This isn’t a piracy issue. I’m sick of hearing companies blaming piracy on their dinosaur business model no longer working. This is a platform issue and the quicker these companies wake up and realise that the better chance they have at surviving in the changed market. Steam is a perfect example of a modern platform model for selling digital goods. It’s doing great.

I tried to get into HMV in Cork on Saturday… but it’s not accessible with a buggy. So, after negotiating some alone time, I went back and found I could barely move around the store because it was so packed. Anyway, I picked up the item I wanted only to discover that the queue encircled the entire store. I walked out.

On Sunday I went to a small music shop in Carrigaline, found what I wanted, and paid. No fuss. Although, alarmingly, they had stacks of Amazon boxes piled around the shop but I was happy to pay the premium so my daughter could buy the present for her mum.

Very rarely because I (inexplicably it seems) wish to listen to more than the latest top twenty dribblings from boy & girl bands.

Records stores days are over. And it’s not exclusively because of piracy. It’s because it’s just much more convenient and flexible to buy music over the internet from Amazon, iTunes…

It’s hard to blame economy because of outdated business model…

I buy second CDs on amazon. I stopped using regular retail when I had to replace my Bell and Sebastian CDs after loosing them on moving back to Ireland. HMV tried to charge me over€20 each. F that

HMV is too expensive,

No, if there is actually an album worth parting with money for it can be found cheaper online on Amazon or iTunes.

I love going into any music store and looking through all that’s on offer . Like a book library it is fun and interesting and some gems can be found. It would be a shame to see the stores close !

In essence the business model has changed and its never going to go back. The sooner record companies realise this the better. There are too many reasons why people buy online. The flexibility of being able to download one or two tracks from a band that you like and not having to pay for the four or five tracks that you don’t want. The fact that if you download you can have your music instantly. The cost differential is also huge, especially if you are buying an entire album.

With regard to illegal downloads if record companies are so against it then they should end their restrictive online media licencing practices and embrace the model instead of fighting it, because ultimately they are going to lose the battle. The fact that iTunes (or other music stores) have national versions of their store should be a thing of the past. As somebody who like a lot of music from European bands, it frustrates me to see a song available in the iTunes Italy or France or Sweden store that I can’t purchase in Ireland. So it is surprising that I will then be tempted to download an illegal version of a song.

If the record companies are going to make it deliberately difficult for me to buy the music I want legally then they can shut up about me doing it illegally.

Now 80 is 10.99 sterling on amazon. It’s 20 euro in HMV . Make up your own mind.

I love HMV, spent a good bit of money in there this year. As I do every year. Would be a shame to see them close down.

We are in an age where you click and download, via iTunes or Vuze, one’s free the other’s not. All of that’s informed by an age where rock stars, record companies made millions and film studios still do. As far as my teens are concerned 9.99 for an album on iTunes is too dear, that’s who record companies should be looking at.

Now and again. Its not a piracy issue. Its cost. Theres a serious mark up on cds, dvds, books, games. 20 euro for a cd like, theres no way I could realistically afford that 12 times a year even. Not a lot of people can. If they sorted out their pricing a bit people would come back. Music piracy is all well and good (for us like, not them) but theres a lot to be said about a hard copy of a cd or record. Nothing better than blasting that cd out for the first time as ya kick back and flick through the booklet and packaging.

I use HMV but only for games – they tend to have surprisingly good prices on some game titles for a B&M shop..

Maybe add a “Yes but never for music” option :)

There are several excellent record shops in Dublin alone – Into the Void, Spindizzy, Freebird, Loki, Trout, The Rage, Tower, Elastic Witch. Plugd in Cork is great too. HMV on the other hand is the equivalent of Tesco.

Record shops in Dublin had been charging comedy prices for years during the boom years (20 euro for a new release cd? Ha!) so it is no wonder that people are turning to cheaper online options. Some still haven’t learned though – the prices in Tower records in Easons on O’Connell St are still mind bogglingly expensive – eg The Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a wopping 24.99 last week! Older films like Home Alone were 9.99 -Who is going to pay prices like that?!

HMV bought Zavvi out and the latter moved exclusively to online retail and have never looked back, they have great deals and discounts every week, why would anyone buy in a brick and mortar shop at inflated prices

€25.99 for a CD? yeah right.

I buy online. Better prices… actually cheaper than buying domestic

Also, I’m getting “chump” tattooed on my forehead.

I’d be more likely to buy from smaller places like Plugd, though sadly haven’t been in there in ages as I don’t have much money.

I’d say more and more, it looks like the middleman is being cut out. That means record labels and publishing, and also stores. A lot of bands are going DIY, as it is not that hard to make a good record if you know how. And you’ll get to keep all of the earnings from it, if you are smart enough to market it well. That’s not a bad thing. Major labels had their heads up their asses since day one – ever declining into mediocrity of catering to the lowest common denominator, as well as bullying all but the Elton Johns and Eminems of their rosters, who were sure to bring in the millions. I don’t miss them, even though it’s a big step into the unknown. Then again – that’s gonna bring the real innovators and creators to the fore. Suits who know nothing about art apart from how to sell it were never gonna be able to handle this climate anyway. They had their chance to both get ethical, thoughtful and innovative, and generally weren’t up to either task.

Anyway it might seem irrelevant to go off on one about labels, but I suppose I see a connection there. It’s sink of swim for places like HMV – if they can find some way to innovate (hard to see how in fairness – a cd is always gonna be a cd), then they might be ok. Also if the economy picks up again, at least that factor might stop threatening them.

I’m probably old fashioned.. I like to hold what I’ve bought in my hand… downloading I’m now looking at but haven’t bought anything yet.

Record shops are great for browsing through before you decide what you want to download when you go home.

the main problem is the lack of selection. if you dont live in a big UK city HMV is useless, they just stock what they think are the top sellers

i still buy records, cds and i buy digital music.

been a long time since i bought anything in hmv bar a game or a desk toy. they just peddle the music that sells – or in this case doesn’t it they are in uncertainty – but none of the music they sell appeals to me

amazon all the way

I love going to a random free gig, like one in the Crane Lane theatre in cork, discovering a completely new band & being able to buy their CD for under a tenner. Everyone’s a winner. There is just that extra special feeling of nostalgia you cannot get when downloading or making the trek into a record store now. The marketing maniacs have truly taken over, bombarding your senses on both platforms with junk and sapped the fun out of music and media. Brainwashing you into an insular state of mind

Nostalgia… I now sound like one of those oldies who lamented about vinyls when the cassette tape took over. But advancements in delivery and quality of players and speakers drove us for years. CD’s followed. Internet music is inferior quality and sounds terrible when played on a good system. wav files and mp3 files are compacted versions of real music and most downloads are only in mono to allow for fast downloading. The current generation don’t realise what they are losing out on. It’s a pity music stores could not communicate this fact and provide a download facility to memory sticks or cdrws on a song by song basis or even to ipods(although ipods ruin sound quality too).

Now if they’d only stuck with lp’s all those years ago they’d never have a problem. Digital audio quality is pants, Jewel cases are horrible.

I hate HMV! Rude staff and expensive prices… it’s better to buy online so u don’t need to see arguing staff, sulky faces and expensive price tags…

There is a market for both. I love listening to records and love to have the record on my hand. However, I have an iPod so I want music on that. Some bands issue records with a digital download code. Perhaps more bands should do that. We’d have the convenience of digital and the superior sound quality that comes with records and yet still have the physical record.

The most depressing thing about going into HMV these days is the smell of defeat. They know the end is coming, they’re just stretching out the final moments. It doesn’t aid customer confidence. Their main problem is that they never found a new identity; are they a music shop, a DVD box set shop, a poster shop or an iPod accessories shop?

HMV isn’t a “record store”. It started like that, but now you can get everything there short of a sandwich. Real record stores like freebird records are doing poorly. I saw an original dark side of the moon for a tenner!

People still pay for music??

I voted no because I buy all my music through iTunes but I still do shop in music stores for DVDs, games, ear phones, tshirts etc

I don’t always buy in record stores but I do always buy “records” (Amazon/eBay). I love having the physical item with artwork, lyrics and to be able to have a collection years from now instead of a hard drive…I don’t mind people downloading legally, but when was it deemed acceptable to illegally download?

The industry is just stuck right now. They’ll figure something out eventually. Music is too big a part of worldwide culture to simply fail.

I always objected to paying 23 Euro to hear only the one or two songs I liked followed by the other 11 monotonous background fillers on an album. It was an expensive habit even 10 yrs back to discover music and new bands, when you had to fork out 20 quid to see if you liked them or not.
Thankfully now I can buy the few songs I actually like individually from itunes which suits me much better. I copied a few cd’s in my time when it was convenient but have yet to download music without paying.

HMV & the likes are great to browse around but its difficult to justify buying cd’s when download is cheaper, more storage friendly & available any time of day no matter where you are. You can buy an album while you’re waiting for the bus. That’s a USP record stores can’t compete with.

I use iTunes for most music purchases, and buy some CDs and dvds still. Almost always online from play.com or amazon though.

Always tried to shop in Irish-owned stores and made a point of avoiding the large non-Irish record store groups.

Haven’t been in one in years now though with downloading.

Whats a record store? Ha ha

Pay for music? Lol

I used to love Road Records before they closed. Dublin shop but I live in Donegal. I shopped online with them all the time and they introduced me to some excellent long players,

I hate getting stuff online, nearly always something wrong and I prefer being able to pick up what I’m buying.

Yes for DVDs but nothing else, I sometimes just wander into to see what cheap DVDs are on sale then watch them that night. Ordering a DVD on Amazon would involve me waiting for it to arrive so I would never do that, I usually want to watch a film now, not once the post has come.

I still buy in shops because that’s what I like.

If people want to download from a legit source that’s great too.

But seriously, people saying things like “Who pays for music these days?”

Grow up lads, what makes you think you can just steal art? You obviously have zero repsect for the people who created the music. It’s their income….

good comment :) from reading through all the comments on this page it’s great to see that most people still pay for music.
If you think it’s a genuinely good song from an artist who deserves it, you’ll spend the few cents on it.

It’s easy to stop the massive x-factor glee etc. industry from making a lot of money… real simple… don’t purchase the song. (you’re going to hear it everywhere you go anyway)

Only download. Cheaper, I only have to buy the songs I like, much more diverse selection and on iTunes, if you don’t like the song, you can get a refund. I’ve done it a few times. Also, it feels “greener”. Less waste, no tranportation required to ship from warehouses to stores so I’m not contributing to air pollution and no manufacturing music onto some form of plastic. The downside to all of this is businesses closing and jobs lost.

HMV in Sligo was packed when I was in Saturday. Tis christmas I suppose. Good spot for DVDs but i’d very rarely buy music there.

I only go to HMV to browse DVD’s, even at that I’ll usually get the films off friends! I never buy music, CD’s are only a distraction in the car and clog up space.

Its all about digital now whether it sounds good or not. iTunes etc allows me to put music on my phone, ipad, mp3 player and also in my car.
Theres nothing more annoying than having to change a cd in the car every 60 or 70mins. Good quality mp3′s or wav files are where its at in terms of convinience. If you have the time and patience for changing cds or vinyls at home then work away at it!
iTunes also sell & rent movies & TV shows are available in the US (only?) at the minute.

I always try buy a CD. It supports the artist and jobs. I’ll only buy music from iTunes if it’s not available from the local HMV in Galway. I would only get a CD from the likes of Play if it’s a lot cheaper (€10 on Play; €22 in HMV for the same CD).

All in all I try my best to buy from record shops such as HMV. It supports local jobs and also supports the musicians I buy from.

I agree with Val, it’s all about the album cover and booklet, I have an iPhone and an iPod but still regularly buy cd’s, “music fans” who download everything and go to one festival in the year aren’t supporting music as a whole, and cannot be deemed music fans at all.

Well i got to this yr have to build my collection of lp’s could go ebay or amazon but its the wait for delivery