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HMV Company Profile
HMV is a British music and entertainment retailer whose name stands for His Master’s Voice.
This is the title of a painting by Francis Barraud of Nipper the dog listening to a Phonograph cylinder, which was purchased by the company in 1899. The brand itself is over 100 years old, with origins dating back to a Gramophone Company on London’s Oxford Street in 1921.
The retailer was owned by Waterstones bookshop from 1998 until 2011, it has also owned the music retailer Fopp since August 2007. The brand purchased a number of former Zavvi stores in 2009 too.
The last decade has been incredibly tough for HMV, being saved from administration twice, by Hilco in 2013 and then again by Sunrise Records in 2019. Since then, it has closed unsuccessful high rent stores and plans for stability before rebuilding again in the future. A key part of its future growth is likely to be due to emulating growth strategies used in Canada and leveraging the vinyl revival.
HMV Products and Services:
- Audio – CDs, Records
- Books
- Video Games, DVDs and Blu-Ray
- Pop culture merchandise
- Record players and headphones
- HMV Digital – an online music download service
Ownership
Following being placed into administration at the end of 2018. Canadian record store chain Sunrise Records announced its acquisition of HMV for an amount of around £1 million. 27 HMV locations in the UK were immediately closed due to high rent costs, but Sunrise insists it has plans to maintain and eventually expand the brand once again. Doug Putman, CEO of Sunrise Records, is now stated as owning HMV and its subsidiaries (including Fopp).
