Changing habits

The question of who is going to buy EMI Classics has arisen once again in the past few days with the collapse of HMV. This followed on from the collapse of Comet, Jessops and Blockbuster, the film rental chain — all indicative of a fundamental shift in our purchasing habits. A spokesman for HMV, while delivering the bad news, characterised this shift as ‘seismic’, going on to opine that ‘it is quite heartbreaking to see all those great brands disappearing from the high street’.

Whose heart was being broken was not made clear, since presumably we are all getting what we want by other means, but it is interesting that the HMV story has some of the same ingredients as the EMI one, in particular length of service and all the nostalgia that goes with it. Where EMI has a catalogue full of resonant names from the past, HMV has been around for 92 years, its famous emblem — a dog listening into a horn — part of the musical landscape for as long as anyone can remember. Alongside that has been the iconic HMV store in Oxford Street, of which we all no doubt have significant childhood memories. I remember that when I first went in there the whole of the ground floor was given over to classical music, which was all one could hear. The slow retreat of the classical section to a far corner, and the advance of violent sounds to batter the ear on arrival, was a process that might stand as a paradigm for how life has changed. One may regret that change, but if one has an ounce of business sense it is clear that it should be respected.