A Newcastle singer-songwriter is celebrating after being one of the first talents to be signed by a new label which sees HMV return to making records for the first time in around 40 years.
India Arkin made an impression on the high street giant during a round of grassroots gigs which resulted in her being picked up by its newly-launched music label 1921 Records. The entertainment retailer sees its return to record-making as "an exciting opportunity" and it signed Arkin, an indie singer who has featured reguarly on BBC Newcastle and its BBC series, after she performed at its Newcastle branch.
Since the start of the year, more than 1,000 gigs have taken place at various HMV stores as part of the company's Live & Local programme and a further 100 shows are set to take place on October 15 which is National Album Day. Arkin, who is said to have achieved her start through the programme, will release new track Home Truths on the same day.
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Teasing news of an announcement to come on her Facebook page, the singer highlighted her recent debut EP No Innocent Bystander which was written about hardships experienced during the pandemic and tries to "seek out the light in the darkest of situations" through experimental soundscapes.
HMV, which runs 115 stores across the UK, named its new label after the year its first shop was opened by The Gramophone Company, as His Master’s Voice in London’s Oxford Street. In 1931, the company joined with Columbia Gramophone Company to form Electric and Musical Industries, now known as EMI.
HMV remained linked to EMI’s record label business until the latter's merger with Thorn in 1979. Doug Putman, who bought HMV in 2019, called the label an “exciting opportunity” for the brand to “hark back to our roots”. And he said the business will continue to invest in vinyl records, following strong 'double-digit' sales growth.
“There is a huge amount of talent we have been keen to showcase in our stores and this is just strengthening our connection with artists,” Mr Putman told the PA news agency. “At the moment, we are going to walk before we can run so we are not going to suddenly have huge numbers of massive artists but we are really excited about where the label can go.”
HMV has opened nine stores since the start of the year, with three more to come before Christmas. Mr Putman added that he can see further steady expansion ahead.
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