26th Apr 2013
Record Store Day sales soar

Following on from recent research of the 18-24 "vinyl revival"demographic, Record Store Day album sales shot up by 60% this year, with singles rising by 20% and almost 70, 000 vinyl sales across the week- an increase of over 85% year on year.
24th Apr 2013
18-24 year olds: a new spin on vinyl

Following a hugely successful Record Store Dayon Saturday (20 April), new research has suggested that 18-24 year olds are spinning the vinyl revival that has seen 78% more vinyl records sold in the first quarter of 2013 year-on-year.The research carried out by ICM states that 14% of respondents in this age bracket had bought music in this format in the last month, in comparison to 9% of 25-34 year olds and 5% of 35-44 year olds.
16th Apr 2013
UK albums ascend in Q1

UK album sales have risen for the first quarter in three years in the first three months of this year, climbing by 1.4%. The rise is attributed to albums from big pop hitters such as Emeli Sande, Jake Bugg and the cast of Les Miserables along with the recurring success of the Now That's What... franchise.
11th Apr 2013
HMV saved by Hilco

Hilco has officially swooped in to save 132 HMV stores alongside nine Fopp outlets, announcing a refocus on selling music and merchandise.Approximately 2,500 jobs have been saved as a result of a £50m deal with the restructuring firm, who were also responsible for giving the kiss of life to HMV Canada a couple of years ago. Hilco has also confirmed that it is looking to re-establish HMV in the Republic of Ireland.
20th Mar 2013
Digital over 50% this year?

BPI Chairman and Generator Board Member Tony Wadsworth CBE has stated that he thinks digital revenues in the UK will this year climb to over 50% of total revenue. Wadsworth was speaking at the Radiodays conference in Berlin this week and he said: “I believe we are at the start of something big in the consumption of digital entertainment, especially music.”
20th Mar 2013
Bowie: Fantastic Voyage

David Bowie's new album The Next Day has achieved the highest first-week sales of the year so far, decisively knocking Bastille off the top spot and selling over 94,000 copies for his first Number One in 20 years. Whilst we’re talking numbers, the album is Bowie’s 27th and his ninth Number One, almost 40 years after his first- Aladdin Sane.
6th Mar 2013
HMV approach Hilco deal?

It wouldn’t be an edition of The Gen without a troubling update on the state of HMV- This time, the retailer has confirmed the closure of a further 43 stores across the UK as it reportedly enters talks with Hilco about a £150m deal to save 130 of its stores.In total, administrators Deloitte have announced the closure of 103 of HMV’s 220 stores in the UK, with the latest round of closures including branches in Bolton, Cheltenham, Middlesbrough and Heathrow Airport, affecting 464 jobs.
25th Feb 2013
BRIT Awards: are you bored?

The BRITS effect is rippling through the charts this week with Emeli Sandé back up to Number Two with ‘Our Version of Events’ and Ben Howard seeing sales of his album triple overnight- but the big question seems to be if such a super slick and predictable ceremony was actually entertaining, despite achieving the highest TV viewing figures in a decade.
11th Feb 2013
HMV: 66 closures confirmed

Following the live tweeting of redundancies made straight from HMV HQ, the administrators of the entertainment group have announced that 66 stores will close in the next two months, affecting 930 staff.
11th Feb 2013
BPI: Living in America

The BPI has announced that British artists claimed one in seven US album sales in 2012. Spurred on by the success of a few key acts currently making a sales splash over the pond and a notable presence at last nIght's Grammy Awards (Adele, Mumford and Sons), British artists took 13.7% of all album sales and four out of the top five best selling albums.