Having the weekend off and going out with the family or friends would describe a typical outing. Then there is the occasional trip to the clothing store, bookstores, cafes, supermarkets and the music store. However, with the rapid change in technology, music is accessible online both legally and illegally.

So how should music stores compete against online music sharing sites? People no longer need to step out of their homes to order albums or even save money by buying their digital albums rather than a physical album. Base on my observations, the number of people looking for and buying from local music stores are declining, I’ve seen many closing down due to increasing rent and decreasing revenue.

Taking HMV as an example, ventured out from being only a music store to adding merchandises, games and even clothing products. This is their strategy to survive in a generation where convenience is everything. Thus, the inevitable happened. Despite their attempts to save the retail stores by venturing out with other products, it proves to be less than enough to compensate for the fast changing market. HMV becomes one example of how differentiating themselves from competitors may still not be enough for them to survive.