AN independent record shop owner says he hopes HMV will survive to prevent further competition being drawn to the city.

The music retailer went under administration just after Christmas, leaving thousands of jobs at risk.

The announcement left independent vinyl record shop owners in Brighton pondering what would it mean to their business.

Frank Taylor, owner of Cult Hero in Brighton Place, said: “As an independent shop, we need a big anchor to step on. However, if anyone else tries to take it away all they end up doing is messing up the retail landscape.

“I want them to survive because if it doesn’t it will upset the status quo we have now.

“Mainstream customers do visit HMV, but they also come to our shops to look for more specialised vinyl.

“HMV covers a big range of DVDs but with the ever-growing selection of taste it can be a challenge in the long run.

“I do feel for the employees because they don’t know what will happen.”

On the other hand, owners of Vinyl Revolution in Duke Street said independent shops can still fill in the gap in the market even if HMV fails to survive.

Rachel Lowe said: You never want to hear about people losing their jobs. Some of the HMV staff members shop here for vintage vinyl and artwork.

“We have been talking to other independent record shop owners and many of us don’t know what the knock-on effects will be.

“For example, we don’t know if the vinyl at HMV belongs to distributors. If HMV closes, the distributors will have a big loss and we don’t know what that will mean for us. HMV makes up about 30 per cent of vinyl sales in the UK but customers visit independent shops for more specialised music.”

In last year’s hipster index where Brighton overtook Portland in the US, the city has the most vinyl shops per 100,000 city residents.

Ms Lowe added: “Because we have so many vinyl shops, there is no reason why we can’t fill in the gap. We just have to wait and see what happens.”

Co-founder Simon Parker said: “HMV stocks so many different types of DVDs and I think it’s hard to keep up in the long term. I think DVD sales will decline quite soon.”