Cold spell hits gigs and retail but industry bounces back.

The music industry soldiered on through the snow and sleet last week, despite the UK's heaviest snowfall in almost two decades leading to cancelled gigs, missed deliveries and fewer shoppers.

In London last Monday, Music Week's own Unearthed showcase was cancelled, joining the likes of Gaslight Anthem (Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms) and Heloise And The Savoir Faire, whose gigs in London and Liverpool were both put off.

Meanwhile, HMV reported that a number of its stores around the country were affected by the adverse weather conditions, particularly in the south east of England, which caught the worst of the snowstorm on Monday.

"It was obviously really difficult getting a full complement of staff in given the impact on our transport systems, and in some cases - such as Bluewater and Kingston - the centres themselves remained closed," a spokesman says.

HMV says that receiving deliveries was also problematic, but the company was back to largely normal trading by last Tuesday, despite the snow spreading to the Midlands and south west.

Elsewhere, Rough Trade East store manager Spencer Hickman put a brave face on proceedings, reporting, "No deliveries, but lots of customers. People were bunking off work and tourists were out in force."

Hickman, however, expressed fears that fans of physical music may have been led to download by the difficult weather conditions.