Scott Reid: High street’s running up that hill

IT’S been a whirlwind summer for Wuthering Heights songstress Kate Bush. Having garnered plaudits for her sell-out comeback concerts, the 56-year-old became the first female artist to have eight albums chart in the top 40 at the same time.

Bushs career revival is also doing its bit to help prop up a music industry that has been struggling to cash in on digital downloading. Picture: Contributed

Bush’s career revival is also doing its bit to help prop up a music industry that has been struggling to cash in on digital downloading and streaming services such as Spotify.

Both technologies may ultimately spell the future for music consumption, but physical media is far from moribund.

Just 18 months ago, HMV was teetering on the brink of oblivion, before being dragged out of administration by the turnaround specialist Hilco. Having slashed the store estate by two-thirds and cranked up the focus on in-store appearances and record signings, it is no longer on the ropes.

The renewed interest in CDs and old-fashioned vinyl has helped like-for-like sales rise 13.8 per cent in the past couple of months. There is even talk of it regaining its title as biggest UK seller of CDs and DVDs from internet giant Amazon. Don’t write off the high street, or CDs, just yet.

Twitter: @scottjamesreid