The struggling high street chain – which has stores in the city centre's Buchanan Street and Argyle Street – confirmed last night it would appoint Deloitte as administrators and said the business would continue to trade while a buyer was sought.

It also has shops at Braehead, Silver- burn, Glasgow Fort and in East Kilbride.

HMV, whose subsidiary Fopp records has two Glasgow branches – Union Street and Byres Road – said in a statement: "The board regrets to announce that it has been unable to reach a position where it feels able to continue to trade outside of insolvency protection."

The firm, which has 239 stores in the UK and Ireland and employs around 4350 staff, has struggled in declining music, DVD and games markets.

Last month it warned a breach of its banking agreements was likely.

It is led by Trevor Moore, who joined HMV last year from camera specialist Jessops, which last week also went into administration.

His Master's Voice, famous for its Nipper the dog trademark, opened in London in 1921.

As HMV it has sold music albums and DVDs to generations.

But the rise of online and digital music spelled the beginning of its struggles.