The Chosen

 

（影像來源：ＴＫ @Liverpool, UK, 2012）


最終樂章！英國最大音樂商店HMV宣佈破產

2013-01-21 Web only 作者：經濟學人

無數年輕人曾在那裡翻找成堆的黑膠和CD，但英國最大的實體音樂商店HMV在營運91年後，
音樂似乎己然結束，或至少是進入了難以預期的最終樂章。1月15日，擁有4,350名員工的
HMV宣佈破產，加入了百視達等大型連鎖店的隊伍。

不過，HMV帶來的衝擊強過其他連鎖店，因為那搖撼了一個英國坐在龍頭寶座的產業。全球約
有3%的產品和6%的服務是從英國出口，但在全球音樂銷售中，英國佔了約13%。去年的美
國五大專輯中，有四張出自英國人。

Adele 的《21》專輯銷售量比 Michael Jackson的《Thriller》還要高；音樂創作文化當然是
最明顯的原因，但另一項因素則是，英國的音樂零售市場相對強健，讓唱片公司得以持續投資
於國內表演者；英國人的平均音樂支出是美國人的兩倍。

英國從CD轉向新式的數位發行，似乎也走得相當平順；透過 iTunes、Spotify 等服務下載或
串流音樂已成主流，這也是盜版相對少見的部分原因。不過，想在線上或實體店面買張CD也
不難。這有助維持銷售，因為年紀較長的消費者還是比較喜歡買CD，也因為店面帶來的櫥窗
效應；音樂店面為新專輯帶來曝光，進而帶動了各種型式的銷售。

Spotify 的經濟總監指出，大部分的HMV客戶並不會只在HMV買音樂，每個人都知道、也都
在使用其他的購買管道。不過，大部分人相信，如果HMV的店面真的關閉，將導致銷售下滑；
04年淘兒音樂結束營業之時就是如此。唱片公司現在只希望買家能儘快出現。（黃維德譯）

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以下為經濟學人刊出的原文

The song remains the same
HMV and the music business

By The Economist
From The Economist

Published: January 21, 2013
Jan 16th 2013, 21:32 by A.E.S. and J.B.

COUNTLESS teenagers have flipped through its racks of vinyl albums and CDs.
But, after 91 years, the music seems to have ended for HMV, by far Britain's
biggest brick-and-mortar music shop—or at least moved into an unpredictable
coda, in a minor key.

On January 15th the retailer, which employs 4,350 people, announced it was
putting itself into administration. HMV joins a parade of high-street casualties,
including Jessops, a camera shop, and Blockbuster, which rents DVDs and
computer games. But HMV's travails reverberate more strongly than the others,
because they shake an industry in which Britain is a world leader.

Around 3% of the world's goods and 6% of the world's services are exported
by Britain, but the country accounts for around 13% of global music sales.
Four of the top five albums in America last year were by British artists. More
copies of "21", an album by Adele, a deep-lunged British songwriter, have
been sold than of Michael Jackson's "Thriller". A culture of musical creativity is
the obvious reason, but another is the relative strength of Britain's music retail
market, which allows record labels to continue investing in domestic artists.
Per person, Britons spend almost twice as much on music as Americans.

Britain had seemed to be moving fairly smoothly from the old world of CDs to
the new one of digital distribution. Downloading and streaming through services
like iTunes and Spotify have become mainstream; partly as a result, piracy is
relatively rare. But it is still easy to buy old-fashioned CDs, online or in shops.
That helps sustain sales, partly because older consumers prefer discs to
downloads and partly because of the shop-window effect. Music stores publicise
new releases and thereby help sell music in all its forms.

"Very few of HMV's customers only ever purchase music from HMV. Everyone
knows and already uses an alternative", argues Will Page, director of economics
at Spotify. But most expect a drop in sales if HMV's stores close: that certainly
happened following the closure of Tower Records, an American chain, in 2004.
Record labels are hoping that a buyer, if only an opportunistic private-equity
firm, emerges quickly.

©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2013

全文來源：http://www.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=5046740&page=1