Hmv in Stratford is easy to find and as usual as with all their stores they sell music,games, dvds…read moreand other bits and bobs. This store is very very narrow which is for the size of other stores a bit dissappointing. But never the less it still holds up quite well. Being narrow means if two people want to pas each other you quite literally have to turn sideways to pass its that small. Once past that problem its clear the store requires more room. The tills are set back to aid with room on the left of the store on the way in. Recent releases of cd etc are at the fron of the store. And as you go further back you find more music, dvds and the game section. Right at the back of the store you will find an area which sells headphones and speakers from makes such as Bose, Sony and philips. I pod accessories are also available too. The store gets 4 out of 5 as the staff being helpful and the amazing amount of stock they cram in makes up for the store being stupidly small.

Rock A Boom is my favourite independent music shop in Leicester. It is located in ST. Martin's…read moresquare which is about 5 minutes away from Highcross shopping centre - Firebug bar and McDonalds are nearby. Rock A Boom is only a small shop and can't compete with HMV for sheer physical space. What it can offer though is very good value on cd's and a small selection of vinyl. They cater to alternative music fans, so you can find some right gems searching through the racks on everything from punk rock to drum 'n' bass. The reason I come back here is because the staff are incredibly friendly and chatty. I don't just come here to buy a record, I come here to have a natter. The attendant will often talk to me about what he's been listening to and recommend things to try. This is the sort of banter and experience you just can't get at bigger corporate record stores.

A Leicester institution, and rightly so. For those looking away from the mainstream for their…read moremusical thrills, this is the best little shop in the city, jam packed with musical obscurities and latest releases. The staff know their stuff, and you can get gig tickets for anything that's going on in Leicester, which is extremely handy. Prices were a little on the steep side before, but I have been informed that they're now extremely competitive. Plus, with certain albums, they occasionally give away free posters and stuff too. Lovely.

One of two proper record shops in Harborough, and the more established one, Pendulum is a great…read morelittle shop full of character, with knowledgeable, helpful and friendly staff. They may not be able to compete with the big web retailers, or even the local supermarkets etc, on price, but it is worth paying that bit more for the levels of service offered. They will happily order in titles they don't currently hold in stock, and turnaround is usually within the week. One of the remaining independant stores that makes Harborough the fascinating market town that it is, I hope they are around for a long time to come.

It's really big and has massive sections devoted to music, games and dvds. Split over a couple of…read morefloors, there's bound to be something that interests you. In addition to the normal categories they have a good range of accessories, band t shirts, music books and biographies and so forth. The staff are pretty knowledgeable and usually quite eager to help. I've always found the most useful staff are in the computer games section, they seem to know what they're talking about the most. Catch the sale and you can get some real bargains - CDs at £2.99 and so forth. Either way this is a great shop to browse, you're bound to pick up a CD of a new band or a DVD you've always fancied watching at a reasonable price. We all hear the call of his master's voice from time to time.

This is the only HMV 'superstore' in Leicester, though there are a couple of smaller shops within…read morethe city. It has three floors, with each one being dedicated to either music, dvd/blu-ray and compuer games. The layout is excellent and it is easy to navigate between titles and genres which are categorised well. The main sticking point I have with this HMV and HMV in genera is the prices. Sometimes they offer excellent deals on certain albums or dvd's, but on other items they are incredibly expensive, compared to alternative online retailers, such as Play or Blah DVD. As other reviewers have commented, its also a little irritating that HMV's website will sometimes sell the same items you buy in store at a cheaper rate! That said, you can pick up some bargains in store that you can't on the website, if you are prepared to do a bit of searching, also look out for any sales they have on and you can grab yourself some excellent bargains. I tend to use the internet for a lot of my music/movie purchases these days, but I do still like to spend time physically browsing the cd and dvd racks at the store and make some impulse purchases and for that, you can't go wrong at this HMV with the choice available.

A small indie record shop covering dance/electronic/hip-hop an' all that. It's dominated by vinyl-…read moreI'm afraid I use CDs, so I'd looked through the shop's entire CD stock in 5 minutes flat, though I did find some good promo stuff which I was happy to pay £1.99 for. Neatly arranged, friendly staff, vinyl listening posts, everything you'd want from your local specialist.

A huge range of vinyl for everyone, diverse range of music genres have spent many an afternoon…read moreearching for house classics and soulful tunes

With an unparalleled selection of vinyl and DJ toys, Seismic has grown to become one of the best…read morerecord shops in the whole country - even the Observer says so! Situated sneakily above Kong, a lovely fashion store in its own right, staff are always friendly and extremely knowledgeable. As it is mail order too there is an almost exhaustive selection of DnB, Breaks, House, Hip Hop etc vinyl with loads of rareties and white labels to discover! The shop itself is bright, comfortable and the perfect way to waste away an afternoon. Unmissable for DJ's

Fantastic selection of records, the owner is extremely friendly and helpful. If there is a record…read moreyou want that isn't in stock, he will order it in for you. Pricing is also very competitive.