Sales in HMV record shops were up 13.4% year on year in the run up to Christmas.

HMV are now the only large high street music retailer left standing after the collapse of Zavvi and Woolworths.

The retailer says it's pop-up stores, where they set up temporary shops just for the Christmas period in towns where they don't normally have a presence, were also a big success and helped ensure the sales boost.

Unfortunately the retailer's book chain Waterstones and its operations in Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore all saw revenues fall, so overall the HMV Group's retail operations won't show quite the uplift achieved in the main HMV UK chain.



Move into clubbing sector

In other HMV news, the firm is contuning to diversify and is reportedly looking into moving into the clubbing sector through a partnership with nightclub owners Luminar.

Although initially a marketing partnership, the Times speculates that HMV might look to acquire Luminar in the same way it is currently trying to buy another of its partners in the live entertainment space, the MAMA Group.

The HMV tie up with Luminar comes despite a legal dispute between the clubbing company and the bit of MAMA in which the retail firm already has a 50% stake - the Mean Fiddler venue network. Luminar claim that MAMA have broken an agreement struck when the live music firm bought an Edinburgh venue off them - what is now the Scottish capital's HMV Picturehouse.

The clubbing people say MAMA agreed to not compete with Luminar's other Edinburgh hang out, Lava Ignite, when they got control of the Picturehouse venue, but that they have since staged non live music events there, ie moving into Lava Ignite's territory. Luminar's original breach of contract lawsuit against MAMA failed in court, but that ruling has just been overturned, so the legal dispute continues.

Additional reporting by CMU Network