HMV takes heart from release schedule

Music and books retailer HMV was today looking to band Coldplay and schoolboy wizard Harry Potter to turn around a fall in like-for-like sales.

HMV said demand for the X&Y album by Coldplay was the second highest in UK chart history in the week following its release on June 6, but it could not prevent same-store sales from dipping by 1% overall during the seven weeks to June 18.