Creative Outlooks - HMV - From Dog Tales to Music Selling Sales
Nov, 21 2025
The image we all recognise as we walk past or into our local HMV has a story to tell. It was in 1898 that Francis Barraud painted His Master’s Voice, a depiction of his late dog Nipper, listening to a phonograph. The painting and subsequent trademark rights would be sold in 1899 to the Gramophone Company, using it on its sound equipment, and in 1909, created their His Master's Voice record label.
By 1921, the Gramophone Company opened the first dedicated His Master's Voice shop at 363 Oxford Street, London, in a former men's clothing shop. Composer Edward Elgar participated in the opening ceremonies. In March 1931 the Gramophone Company merged with Columbia Graphophone Company to form Electric and Musical Industries Ltd (EMI), with the Gramophone Company becoming part of EMI.
The original HMV shop was severely damaged by a fire in 1937, but was rebuilt and reopened two years later on 8 May 1939. Sir Thomas Beecham opened the new shop.
If you’ve been around since the 60’s you would have seen a remarkable growth in sales for HMV. In the 1980’s the London Oxford Street store was officially opened by music celebrities Bob Geldof and the late Michael Hutchence. By 1996 it experience a milestone having been open to the public a staggering 75 years.
But sadly as the new century approached music fans went digital and there was a gradual decline in sales for HMV. A number of shops went into administration by 2013 and the once busy Saturday morning rush hour for the latest releases was a thing of the past.
The following audio segment will shed some light on this dark past in HMV’s history –
Despite some discrepancy about the cultural relevance of HMV, Hilco UK found a new future for it on 5th April 2013 as they had acquired HMV, taking the company out of administration and saving 141 of its shops and around 2,500 jobs.
However, HMV moved with the times and a music download service was made available from October 2013. In addition it’s online shop became active from June 2015, providing CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs and LP records for online order and home delivery with exclusive stock also available.
In April 2023, it was confirmed that HMV had signed up to reopen a new-format shop in their original home at 363 Oxford Street after four years away, during which time the premises had been occupied temporarily by "American candy" outlets, along with other vacated shops on the street . This will be, following runs from 1921 to 2000 and 2013–2019, HMV's third stint at 363 Oxford Street.
The website is available to buy the latest release here –
What started as an artist’s impression of his dog with a gramophone evolved into a record buying shop we’ve come to know and treasure in the present day. It was temporarily affected in sales due to an increase in the public going download yet it regained trust in its buyers to become a profitable creative outlook over the last ten years or so. It’s had to move with the times to keep it culturally relevant and staff need to be overly familiar with everything in the store in order to help the public.
It may not be ‘the’ store to go on a Saturday morning but it hasn’t lost its appeal. HMV’s history has shaped it’s modern formula, people still have an interest in music and if you like the old school appeal of actually going into a shop and buying something then HMV is still culturally relevant and still has something to talk about as we close 2025.
^Alex Ashworth CCG Content Creator
