Peter Ulrich: Music Retail Malaise
Are Independent Record Stores Becoming an Endangered Species?
Jun 25, 2008
Suite 101: This music retail situation has been bothering you for some time hasn’t it?
Peter Ulrich: Once you start thinking about this, the possibilities just go on and on, and you become increasingly amazed that these major retailers, with their development departments and market research data, simply sit back moaning about illegal digital downloads and waiting to become as dead as the proverbial dodo.
Suite 101: If you had the power to do so what would you do to change the current trend?
Peter Ulrich: "Well, in January 2006 I wrote a six page letter to HMV, the UK's biggest retail chain, setting out my blueprint for revamping their stores basically the points I have already mentioned. A few weeks later I must confess I was surprised to receive a personal reply from the Managing Director of HMV UK & Ireland - a Mr Steve Knott.
I quote directly the following extract from his letter as follows:
"Thank you also for your very detailed, informative and thought-provoking comments. HMV is indeed seriously reviewing many of the aspects of our in-store merchandising which you discuss, We have conducted comprehensive customer research which, you will be pleased to know, raises many of the issues and opportunities you articulate so well in your correspondence. Over the coming months, you will see changes in HMV which I trust will be to your satisfaction." That was over two years ago and I am still waiting to see these changes.To the best of my knowledge, none of my ideas has even been trialled, let alone implemented."
Suite 101: So as you would say, sod all happened…..
Peter Ulrich: "Meanwhile I have experienced two developments specifically in relation to HMV which, as far as I am concerned, make the mind boggle... It has been rumoured in the media in recent months that HMV is planning to dramatically reduce the amount of store space it currently allocates to music CDs and give the space over to sales of PC/Playstation games. If this is true, this is their maddest idea yet."
Suite 101: Yes, that same idea is happening here in the big music franchises in Canada as well – everything in the store DVDs, games....coffee...
Peter Ulrich: "HMV has long-term traditional strength as a music retailer - this is where its core business lies. It will not be able to successfully expand into the games market where it will be competing with better established web retailers, supermarkets and specialist retail stores such as Game. HMV will probably not be able to match, let alone better the prices of those other retailers, so what does it possibly imagine is going to attract new gaming customers into its stores?"
Suite 101: There are lots of games outlets already. I guess they are looking for that 12 to 15 year old demographic. Didn’t you try something with them promo wise for John Barleycorn Reborn?
Peter Ulrich: Last year I contributed a track from my last album (The Scryer and The Shewstone from Enter the Mysterium ) to a major British folk compilation called John Barleycorn Reborn. Following months of negotiation, we (project curator Mark Coyle, label Cold Spring and me) managed to get HMV to run a review of the album in their in-store specialist genre magazine Choice - apparently the fourth largest circulation music publication in the UK.
The review was published in the folk section of the March/April 2008 issue, gave the album a powerful recommendation and also included reference to the album's 4-star review in Songlines Magazine. During the weeks following publication of this issue of HMV Choice, I visited three HMV stores on several occasions, including the two huge flagship stores in Oxford Street in the centre of London... and not one of these stores had a single copy of the album in stock!"
Suite 101: That’s ludricrous.
Peter Ulrich: It is quite clear to me that the malaise of the music retail sector is rooted in bad management, lack of direction and lack of imagination. I do NOT accept that sales of physical albums in formats such as CD, vinyl and tape are dead, but I do fear that the appalling state of the retail sector will kill them if it doesn't get a complete overhaul in the very near future.
For more about Peter Ulrich check out Peter's website
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