HMV has overtaken Amazon to once again become the UK’s largest physical musical retailer.
The latest data on the physical entertainment market from Kantar Worldpanel reveals that HMV overtook Amazon in the 12 weeks ending September 25 to become the UK’s largest music retailer, generating 41,000 new customers and increasing its share of the physical entertainment market by 3.1%.
Fiona Keenan, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, commented: “HMV’s growth has been driven in large part by its success with several big music titles: two thirds of all sales of the critically acclaimed debut album from Christine and the Queens came via the retailer, and HMV also benefited from the ongoing success of Adele’s 25. A full year after its release, Adele’s 25 remains the top-selling artist album in the charts. It was also HMV’s bestselling album in the past 12 weeks, with the retailer capturing 29% of all sales.
“Meanwhile Amazon has seen a less positive performance in the latest quarter as 14% of its shoppers left the physical music market. It’s likely we’ll see this decline accelerate in the coming months as Amazon places greater focus on its digital offer. Amazon Music Unlimited is scheduled for launch in early 2017, and the new Amazon Echo will play a crucial role in the success of the retailer’s streaming service. With Black Friday just around the corner, strong promotional activity is likely to boost sales of the new device, persuading even more of Amazon’s customers to make the switch to digital.”
Now 94 was the bestselling album in the latest quarter and, while it was the only music title to make the top 30 entertainment products, the category once again performed better than any other entertainment sector. Artist albums grew by 4.2% year-on-year, now accounting for 78% of the physical music market with Adele, ELO and Coldplay holding onto the three top spots.
