HMV Move Into Live Venue Sponsosrhip
HMV is moving into the live music circuit after a £20 million deal with Mama Group which sees it take a stake in some of the country’s, and London’s, most famous live music venues. HMV will profit from ticket and merchandising sales, which are becoming more important as CD sales continue to decline and the live scene continues to burgeon.
The deal involves London’s Hammersmith Apollo, and the Forum, which will both undergo name changes (the HMV Apollo and the HMV Forum). This come shortly after O2’s recent sponsorship of the Academy Music Venues, which have meant name changes for the O2 Academy Brixton and the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. Corporate sponsorship of venue names is not exactly rock and roll, although if they help venues avoid the fate of the Astoria and the Hammersmith Palais, perhaps they are a necesary evil. And if HMV sell tickets to the Apollo in their shops, cutting out some of the dreadful booking and postage fees the onlnie ticket agencies charge, that would be a good thing.