Music retailer HMV announced that it would close 60 of its stores (including 20 Waterstones) due to a slump in sales.  The bad weather was mentioned as a factor but as retail expert Nick Bubb told the BBC other stores like John Lewis didn’t suffer the same slump.

Their bad times are another reminder that the way we buy our music and dvds has changed forever.  This is despite their (HMV's) best efforts to introduce digital downloads and itunes and also stock clothing. 

Mr Bubb also said that the chain is the ‘last man standing’ – ie the only major high street music chain left on the high street.  These are worrying times for those who used like spending time walking around record stores of an afternoon.  Buying cds from Amazon or sticking it in your supermarket is a pretty dull and soul-less experience.  It just isn’t the same.

Those of us who are fans of independent record shops should not see it as good news either.  There was a recent, very worthy, campaign to ‘support your local indie store’ – but there must surely be room for at least one big player on the high street. 

Many of the independent stores are tucked away in side streets and harder to find without a bit of local knowledge.  Passionate music fans would visit these stores but many others may not.

HMV were never the enemy that many other corporate brands like EMI were to the music industry.  It is the remaining catch-all for people buying cds or dvds and probably less intimidating for the 50 year old buying his daughter a birthday present than wandering into a random independent record shop.

Zavvi, Tower Records, Fopp and most others have either down-sized or gone forever.

Your local high street will be a less interesting place when the record shop disappears.   You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone as Joni Mitchell once said.