Record store chain HMV opens new branches in Brussels and Antwerp: “CDs are becoming popular again with a younger audience” (Economics)

In 2023, 87 percent of all music in Belgium was sold via streams and downloads. Last year, streaming raised more than 100 million euros in our country for the first time. Spotify and its ilk are therefore the kings of the music world.

That is why it is so striking that the British music store chain HMV, the abbreviation for His Master’s Voice, has major expansion plans. In November last year, HMV opened a store in the Wijnegem Shopping Center. On Friday, April 12, the chain will open a second Belgian branch in the City 2 shopping center in Nieuwstraat in Brussels. There will be room for pop culture products, such as figurines and collectibles from popular series and music groups, but also for 6,000 different vinyl records and 8,000 different CDs.

“We get about half of our revenue from merchandise. The other half of our turnover comes from the sale of records and CDs,” says Phil Halliday, director of HMV. “Our store in Wijnegem has fully met expectations in the first months for the sale of vinyl and pop culture products. Only CD sales were slightly lower because, to be honest, we were a bit more expensive than the competition, which is located a stone’s throw from our store (Halliday refers to Fnac, ed.). But we are now conducting promotional campaigns for CDs so that CD sales will also increase.”

READ ALSO. Why legendary British music store HMV in Wijnegem Shopping Center embarks on a European conquest

Take That

But can CD sales still be revived? In 2018, the Belgian music industry earned 21 million euros from the sale of CDs. In 2023, 5.8 million euros remained. “But compared to 2022, CD sales have stabilized,” says Olivier Vandeputte, director of the Belgian Recorded Music Association (BRMA), the organization that represents the Belgian music industry.

“Anyone who still buys CDs will probably not stop doing so anytime soon. The major setback is over. A CD is also slightly more practical than a record. It’s easier to store and it usually wears out less quickly.”

In the United Kingdom, turnover from CD sales increased last year for the first time in two decades, although only by 2 percent. The best-selling CD was there This life, a comeback album by British group Take That. 127,000 British people bought that new album on CD last year. It is perhaps no coincidence that the best-selling CD comes from a group whose heyday coincided with those of the CD era.

New stores in Antwerp

“Yet we see that CDs are also becoming increasingly popular with a younger audience,” says Phil Halliday. “That’s because many people like to have another product in their hands, and the CD is much cheaper than a vinyl record. We see a lot of potential in the disc and want to open new stores where we offer CDs and vinyl records. We are looking for locations in Ghent and in the center of Antwerp.”

Whether there will be a real revival of the CD will remain to be seen in the figures this and the following years. This comeback has been going on for some time now for vinyl records. In 2018, the Belgian music industry earned 5.5 million euros from vinyl sales. By 2023, this will have risen to almost 9 million euros. West Flemish entrepreneur Patrick Hanssens has major expansion plans with his record store chain GenX.

“We opened our first store in Kortrijk in 2022. We will open a store in Ghent on May 1, and we are now looking for a building in Antwerp,” says Patrick Hanssens. “Leuven, Brussels, Lille and Paris are also on our list. The popularity of vinyl has increased significantly, also among young people. Recently a 16-year-old boy in my store asked why three Kraftwerk records cost 35, 60 and 125 euros respectively. I explained that the one for 125 euros had a great collector’s value. He took out his savings and bought the record for 125 euros. In other words, vinyl is really alive.”

The stores that Gen X opens also have room for a coffee bar with a hundred seats, a terrace and music books. There are no CDs. “I no longer believe in that,” says Patrick Hanssens.

Niche market

In a niche store like Rocking Bull, which focuses on the harder genre and has branches in Antwerp and Hasselt, CDs are still popular. “Our CD sales increase a little every year because our audience likes to have something in their hands and because metal fans are loyal to their genre,” says Luc Swaenen, manager of Rocking Bull. “Streaming services such as Spotify are rather a blessing for us. Now you can first listen extensively to what you buy, so that you don’t waste money on a CD that turns out not to be your thing.”