[2] The retailer was opened by the Gramophone Company on London's Oxford Street, who owned the Francis Barraud painting and trademark, His Master's Voice.

[5] In April 2013, HMV Group plc was bought by Hilco UK for an estimated £50 million after falling into administration, with some international divisions divested off.

[citation needed] The company floated on the London Stock Exchange later in the year as HMV Group plc, leaving EMI with only a token holding.

[22] The scheme awarded cardholders points for purchases, which could be collected and redeemed on a number of rewards including vouchers, memorabilia and signed merchandise.

Private equity firm Permira made a £762 million conditional bid for the group (based on 190p a share) on 7 February 2006, which was rejected by HMV as an insufficient valuation of the company.

[44] The sale of Waterstone's to A&NN Capital Fund Management for £53 million was completed on 29 June 2011, and was approved by the vast majority of shareholders at an emergency general meeting.

[47] On 15 January 2013, HMV Group appointed Deloitte as company administrators[48] and suspended shares,[49] putting its 4,350 UK employees at the risk of redundancy.

[48][50] Gift vouchers were initially declared void since holders are classified as unsecured creditors to whom the company owed the value,[51] but were accepted again from 22 January 2013.

The next day, Deloitte confirmed that an additional 60 redundancies, including the chief executive Trevor Moore, had been made at the group's offices in London, Marlow and Solihull.

[59] On 28 February 2013, eight shops in Hong Kong and Singapore were sold to AID Partners Capital Limited and the operation then became independent from HMV Group that was bought by Hilco UK.

This transaction also enabled AID Partners Capital Limited to own the rights to use the HMV brand in Hong Kong, Macau, China, Taiwan and Singapore.

[6] Following the purchase by Hilco UK, it was reported that the company was seeking to reduce the number of shop staff across the business, as part of an effort to save £7.8 million on the wages budget.

[80][81] In October 2019, the new owners opened the HMV Vault on Dale End, Birmingham, billed as Europe's biggest entertainment shop and stocking tens of thousands of CDs and vinyl records and other products.

On 18 May 2023, Sunrise Records announced HMV would re-enter the Irish market again with a shop on Dublin's Henry Street, in a unit previously occupied by the company during their first incarnation.

[92][93] On 21 July 2024, Phil Halliday, the managing director of HMV announced; that there was an increase of customers buying physical media formats of films and television shows commercially released on DVD and Blu-ray.

[citation needed] The flagship store hosted in-store concerts from Puff Daddy, D'Angelo, Green Day, Foxy Brown, Ramones, Guns N' Roses, Backstreet Boys, and NSYNC.

[99] In June 2010, HMV Canada launched purehmv, a customer rewards program that offered store discounts and exclusive items across music, film, and gaming in exchange for points gained in-store.

[101] In June 2011, HMV Canada sold its stores for £2 million to Hilco Capital, a British firm specialising in retail restructuring.

[105] As part of its strategy, HMV Canada focused on growing back-catalogue music and movies not found at discount rivals, while also carrying higher-margin merchandise like gifts, collectibles, clothing and headphones, while removing video games and technology hardware from sale.

[citation needed] Hilco Capital stated that financial difficulties, combined with decreasing sales, meant the current situation was not sustainable.

[112] In February 2024, Toys "R" Us Canada (also owned by Sunrise Records owner Doug Putman) announced that it would begin to introduce HMV-branded store-within-a-store departments at its locations, carrying music, home video, and various pop-culture collectibles.

[123] On 28 October 2010 the Japanese convenience shop giant Lawson acquired all shares of HMV Japan from Daiwa Securities SMBCPI for ¥ 1.8 billion.

Chaos.com and Leading Edge Music both made public threats to boycott Festival Mushroom's content, but HMV Australia (whose website did not offer downloading) followed through, removing all CDs from their Australian shops, adding they would do the same overseas.

By the next week, Festival Mushroom backed down, stating Sanity would simply be the wholesaler of their digital downloads for the next three years, requiring them to make all products available to other retailers at the time of release.

However, most HMV shops in Australia had very high overhead costs due to their large footprints and expensive locations, thus most were gradually closed upon the end of rental leases.

[130][131] The horizontal merger was approved by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission the same month, leaving Brazin to merge marketing and general operations within the one entertainment division.

HMV operated a store at Marina Square, and previously had locations at 313@Somerset (which replaced a former shop at The Heeren) and the CityLink underground mall.

HMV's pricing was generally higher than independent stores and local chains like Gramophone and That CD Shop, but it was the only retailer in Singapore to sell a variety of products, including games, T-shirts, books, and audio gear, alongside music and video.

[141] In July 2015, it was announced that HMV had struck a deal with the Qatar-based company, Al Mana Lifestyle, for fifteen stores across Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

[144] In the 1990s, the chain expanded into the United States, opening several stores along the East Coast, including a prominent flagship location in Manhattan.