HMV close GetCloser

It's only a little over a year since it first trumpeted itself:

ACCESS ALL AREAS WITH GETCLOSER.COM
GET CLOSER TO THE MUSIC AND FILM YOU LOVE
What is the soundtrack to your life? What are the best films you have ever seen? A
year in the making, getcloser.com has now landed to help you share the music and
film you love with like-minded people.
Build collections of music and film and share the stuff you're into. Getcloser.com is
the first site of its kind to recommend, explore and connect you to music, artists,
your favourite cult movies and film experiences based on your unique taste.
As part of a new wave of social discovery sites for fans by fans, getcloser.com
helps you discover, rate, recommend, share and enjoy everything together.
Finding exclusive movie trailers, music videos, interviews and rarities is easy. The
more connections you make, the more you discover to bring you closer to your
favourite things.
Getcloser.com guides you on your way to building the ultimate music and film
library that any critic would be envious of. Bridge the gaps in your collections using
HMV?s extensive database and get closer to the artists, music and films we all
love at the click of a button.
With the active involvement of HMV?s suppliers at record labels and film studios,
the site is full of rich content from all your favourite artists new and old. With
exclusive live footage of intimate artist performances hosted by HMV stores, and
interviews filmed backstage at festivals and on the red carpet, getcloser.com will
be the place to access the latest behind the scenes gossip with A-list actors, artists
and much more.
Getting started couldn?t be easier, simply import your iTunes Library to build your
getcloser.com DNA so like minded fans can be recommended allowing you to take
a nosey at their collections and pinch some ideas.
Tickle your cultural taste buds and be the one in the know by receiving film and
music updates according to your Profile DNA. Make connections between the
music and films you love, be it a story, an experience or a little-known fact and
explore and discover music and film using the connections made by other people.
Use the Gap Analyser to highlight the artists, music or films that you are bound to
like and really ought to add to your collection. Why not get even closer by using the
chat tool to share gossip with friends made through the connections cloud, or if
they?re not online, leave messages, join groups and create fan clubs on the site.
For the more pioneering music fans you can write reviews, and for the dedicated
followers getcloser.com will be the place to be for all the latest news and content
on your favourite bands and films. You can now sleep peacefully knowing you will
never miss a trick.

This constantly evolving community sees the gap bridged between music and film
feeding you with information from all angles and ultimately enhancing your sharing
experience. Get involved and divulge unique information about artists and films to
help the site grow into a bank of information for passionate fans.
Music and film fans alike get ready for a more diverse range of discovery as
getcloser.com lets you access all areas.

Now, the world might have been sitting there saying "this sounds like a really weak attempt to create a web community out of little more than a list of products for sale and a sneak around someone's iTunes, and seems to be more about providing information to HMV than genuinely being useful...", but before they'd have got halfway through, it seems like HMV had already got there too.

The few people who had got closer to GetCloser got a closer email today:

We wanted to let you know that getcloser.com will soon be going offline.

But don't worry - although getcloser.com won't be there, much of the exclusive content you've come to know and love will be uploaded to hmv's new rewards scheme website over the coming months.

join purehmv for free*

To say thanks for being a part of getcloser.com, we'd like to offer you free membership of purehmv, which usually costs £3 to join. We'll also throw in 1000 bonus points to get you started.

If you've already heard of purehmv, you'll know it's a bit different from other reward schemes. Only purehmv gives you access to stuff money can't buy, like film premiere tickets, tickets to gigs and rare, signed stuff.

So three things:

First, HMV have burned through some cash they couldn't afford on trying to create a walled version of Last FM - which should give pause to other companies (hello, record labels) who think they can do the same.

Second, having failed to have a miniFacebook, they've decided to try and create a Tesco Clubcard instead.

But third: they want people to pay for their clubcard. The Guardian, it's true, is about to launch a members club where people - they hope - will pay to be part of a Guardian family. That might work, as you'd be supporting something that is a bit more than a profit maximising concern. But who would want to pay to allow HMV to collect data about what you buy?

[Thanks to Michael M]