A candle in the Spotify wind? Elton John hopes a little Crocodile Rock can save HMV

Elton John has announced his intentions to perform a concert in a HMV store in an attempt to save the UK-based music retailer.

HMV Group, which operated in Australia until its local operations were sold to rival Sanity in 2005, is the corporate descendent of the His Master’s Voice chain, which was best known for its iconic logo featuring a dog staring into a gramophone.

In January, the chain entered administration as a result of declining record sales and increasing online competition from services including Apple iTunes, Spotify, Pandora and Google Play Music.

According to The Telegraph, Universal UK chief executive David Joseph has confirmed the music industry icon’s plans to save the music retailer through a series of in-store concerts.

“One of our biggest global superstars said why don’t we get a lot of the biggest artists to start doing gigs in HMV, just to turn up and say these are music stores, come and get your music here,” Joseph says.

“Elton [John] has always been a big supporter of record shops. He will be doing something with HMV.”