Editing HMV (section)

=== Australia (1989–2010) ===
In 1989, HMV established its first Australian shop in the [[Sydney]] suburb of [[Parramatta]], closely followed by a second in [[Chatswood, New South Wales|Chatswood]] in the same year.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} In 1990, HMV opened its [[flagship]] shop in the [[Sydney central business district]].{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} The 1,207-square-metre superstore in [[Pitt Street Mall]] was the largest music shop in the Southern Hemisphere and sold more CDs than any other shop in the country.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} It was also awarded the [[ARIA Charts]] Store of the Year on three occasions.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} By 1998, a further 27 shops were opened in key retail centres on the eastern seaboard of Australia, including other large units at [[Melbourne]]'s [[Bourke Street|Bourke Street Mall]] and [[Brisbane]]'s 585-square-meter [[Queen Street Mall]] shop.<ref>{{cite web |title=Superbrands: HMV Australia |url=http://superbrands.com.au/index.php/volumes/volume-2/79-volumes/volume-2/254-hmv-vol-2 |access-date=21 June 2012 |publisher=Superbrands.com}}</ref>

In March 2000, HMV made local headlines when its larger rival, [[Sanity (music store)|Sanity]], signed a five-year deal with [[Festival Mushroom Records]] for a three-year online exclusivity window on all tracks downloaded from that label at Sanity's website.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} Sanity's competitors and other online services were meant to be blocked from Festival Mushroom's catalogue for that period unless Sanity agreed to deal with them. [[Chaos.com]] and [[Leading Edge Group|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=News Corp Unit, Sainty.com Plan Online Deal |url=http://www.telecompaper.com/news/news-corp-unit-sanitycom-plan-online-deal |access-date=21 June 2012 |publisher=Telecompaper}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Adcock |first=Bronwyn |date=9 March 2000 |title=ABC Radio PM: HMV boycotts the Festival Mushroom Group |url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s108985.htm |access-date=21 June 2012 |work=[[PM (Australian radio program)|PM]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Donovan |first=Patrick |date=17 March 2000 |title=New Deal Sounds Better To Retailers |url=http://www.downloadsongs.com.au/download-songs-articles/2000/3/17/new-deal-sounds-better-to-retailers/ |access-date=21 June 2012 |work=[[The Age]]}}</ref>

In October 2005, Sanity's owner, Brazin Limited acquired the Australian operations of HMV for A$4 million (£1.7 million). The HMV Group's agreement with Brazin was to phase out the HMV brand in Australia by 2010. Immediately after this acquisition of HMV's 32 outlets, this put Brazin at its peak with its 74 [[Virgin Megastore]] and Virgin At Myer stores, in addition to Sanity's 215, and [[EzyDVD]]'s 63 outlets around the country (not counting non-entertainment retail chains within Brazin, such as [[Bras N Things]]) and was by far Australia's largest entertainment retailer with close to 43% of the music retail market. 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. The remaining shops were re-branded to Sanity over the next five years.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 September 2005 |title=Brazin to buy HMV music stores for $4m |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Brazin-to-buy-HMV-music-stores-for-4m/2005/09/28/1127804540782.html |access-date=21 June 2012 |work=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Eliezer |first=Christie |date=28 September 2005 |title=HMV Sells Australian Stores To Brazin |url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/others/hmv-sells-australian-stores-to-brazin-1001217713.story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130219181810/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/others/hmv-sells-australian-stores-to-brazin-1001217713.story |archive-date=19 February 2013 |access-date=23 January 2013 |magazine=Billboard}}</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} Also in October, Brazin launched its Pulse [[Loyalty program|loyalty card]] after a year of testing in the market. It worked by giving the customer one point for every dollar spent across Brazin's shop network, receiving a $5 discount voucher or other offers once 100 points were reached.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 October 2005 |title=Visible Results Solution, "Australian Retail's Most Innovative And Dynamic Customer Loyalty Program" Says Brazin Limited CEO |url=http://www.visibleresults.com/about/articles_pr/pr_article_028.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520072619/http://www.visibleresults.com/about/articles_pr/pr_article_028.htm |archive-date=20 May 2013 |access-date=2 September 2013 |publisher=Visible Results}}</ref>

By December 2006, HMV had shrunk to 22 outlets from its peak of 32 the year before.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Eliezer |first=Christie |date=11 December 2006 |title=Brazin Data Returns To Aus Charts |url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/others/brazin-data-returns-to-aus-charts-1003495396.story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115033204/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/others/brazin-data-returns-to-aus-charts-1003495396.story |archive-date=15 January 2013 |access-date=23 January 2013 |magazine=Billboard}}</ref>

At the end of August 2007, HMV's Australian flagship shop in Pitt Street Mall was closed, when the [[MidCity|Mid City Centre]] shopping centre it was located in was closed for renovation, and the large Bourke Street Mall shop closed on 19 February 2008.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} By mid-2010, the last HMV shop was closed in Brisbane by Sanity, and the last re-branded HMV shop trading as Sanity closed at [[Indooroopilly Shopping Centre]] in December 2012.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

The defunct HMV brand in Australia remains owned by Hilco Capital.