HMV have issued a profit warning this morning, and in a statement has said it will be implementing a 3-year plan to try to turnaround flagging sales. At the time of writing, shares in the firm had already fallen by 15% in value. Predictions of the group's average profit for the end of the financial year have already slipped from around the £60 million mark to a 'mere' £50 million.

With increased low-price competition from supermarket sales, and the problems with competing with the lower overheads of online retailers like Amazon, the high street stores are struggling to find a role for themselves in a music culture where the download is constantly growing in power.

"The markets in which we operate are both challenging and undergoing structural change," Chief Executive Simon Fox told reporters. "We have to address this with urgency." Download culture has been around for years; no matter what re-structuring HMV go in for, it looks like too little, too late.