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HMV Tops Physical Music Sale Charts Once More

HMV Tops Physical Music Sale Charts Once More

HMV has overtaken Amazon in sales of physical records and CDs for the first time since September 2013.

The music and gaming retailer, which collapsed in January 2013 and was later bought out of administration , had higher sales of such items than any other UK retailer during the latest 12 -eek period, according to industry figures published by Kantar Worldpanel.

Specialist video games stores also won higher market share, although Amazon saw the strongest growth overall among the major retailers.

During the 12 weeks to 15 March, HMV enjoyed a 12% increase in physical music sales, buoyed on by the popularity of British artists including Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran, who occupied eight of the top 10 album spots during the period.

Sales increased by £9.8m, moving it ahead of Amazon for the first time since January 2013.

HMV was reborn two years ago when Hilco snapped up the most profitable branches and moved to combat the challenge from downloads, streaming, online orders and supermarket offerings.

It remains the largest specialist music retailer on the high street.

In the video games market, specialist retailers won market share from the supermarkets - reversing a trend that had sprung out of the last recession.

The specialists proved to be an especially popular destination for people buying the quarter’s hottest seller, Grand Theft Auto V, on new formats.

According to Kantar, the grocers grabbed just over half of sales for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 but only saw a third of sales on the newest machines.

Across the physical entertainment market, Amazon enjoyed faster growth than any of other major retailers with sales up 19% on the same period last year.

Amazon's market share rose to 23.1%.

Despite the growth in sales enjoyed by HMV, video games retailers and Amazon, the sector saw 1.4 million fewer shoppers overall compared to the corresponding period last year.

Fiona Keenan, strategic insight director at Kantar, said HMV’s success was down to "Its extensive range of products" which she said was popular among shoppers who want to browse before buying.