Vinyl sales put HMV back on track with first profit in four years

Economy
By Liam

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Vinyl sales put music giant HMV back on track as the company turned a profit for the first time in four years

  • HMV has seen sales jump by two-thirds due to the coronavirus lockdowns
  • Vinyl sales in the UK will hit a 30-year high in 2022, it was confirmed this month
  • Vinyl LP sales grew to 5.5 million units for the 15th consecutive year

By Neil Craven for The Mail on Sunday

published: | Updated:

The music industry is known for its comebacks. But few are more surprising than HMV, which was written off for dead just a few years ago.

Now, a resurgence of vinyl among music fans, bucking the digital trend, spells a brighter future for the company.

Sales are up two-thirds as HMV shrugged off the effects of pandemic lockdowns. It also turned a profit for the first time since being bailed out by a Canadian entrepreneur four years ago.

Vinyl sales in the UK will hit a 30-year high in 2022, the Official Chart Company confirmed earlier this month.

Sales are up two-thirds as HMV shrugged off the effects of pandemic lockdowns

The best-selling albums were Taylor Swift’s Midnights, which sold more than 89,000 copies on vinyl, and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Arctic Monkeys’ The Car and Liam Gallagher’s C’mon You Know.

Vinyl LP sales grew to 5.5 million copies in 2022 for the 15th consecutive year – the highest number since 1990.

Businessman and music fan Doug Putman, 38, bailed out the company – still Britain’s largest music chain – in 2019 and has since counted on the continued resurgence of vinyl records among young and old music addicts alike.

He said, “Vinyl is in a constant revival, with many of the world’s biggest music artists now making vinyl a staple of their new album promotions, attracting collectors of all ages.”

Mr Putman has also added more music and movie merchandise to cater to fans of franchises such as Star Wars and Netflix series Stranger Things.

HMV’s turnover rose 67 per cent to £151 million in the year to May and even paid the owner a dividend of £1.8 million.

Like many retailers, the company was forced to close its stores during the pandemic. But Mr Putman told the MoS he planned to add more stores to his 120-strong business – another 10 this year – and sell more online. “Looking forward, we expect another solid performance,” he said.

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Since its launch four years ago by Merck Mercuriadis and Chic frontman Nile Rodgers, investment fund Hipgnosis has snapped up the rights to tens of thousands of songs by well-known musicians.

Initially proving to be a hit with investors, its shares have plummeted over the past year, taking it at a deep discount to the intrinsic value of the catalog it contains.

That back catalog is impressive, with song rights from famous artists and some of their biggest hits ranging from Neil Young to Blondie, Shakira and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Boss Mercuriadis has said he shares investors’ disappointment with the trust’s share price performance after a challenging year.

> Hipgnosis: A cheap streaming investment or one to avoid?

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