Brick and mortar music stores aren’t the only outlets adversely affected by the digital download era. First the Columbia House Music Club bit the dust, now BMG Music Service is closing up shop.
Current members recently received an email informing them that the BMG Music Service is being discontinued as of June 30, 2009. They will have until May 31 to redeem certificates or make purchases on the club’s website - bmgmusic.com.
The closing marks the end of an era. For years, both Columbia House (originally known as the Columbia Record Club) and BMG Music Service (originally known as the RCA Music Club) provided music connoisseurs a way to start or add to their music collections in bulk, with their “6 for the price of one” or “Get 11 albums free” offers.
I can still remember as a young teenager getting my introductory shipment of a dozen or albums from Columbia House and thinking, “Wow, I’ve got every album I’ve always wanted.”
A few thousand albums later, I’m still working on that – but that’s another story.
The history of the record clubs starts with Columbia, which was founded in 1955 and was originally owned by CBS Records. RCA Records started up the RCA Music Service shortly thereafter. For most of the years the clubs were in competition with each other, CBS recordings were not available from the RCA club, and RCA recordings were unavailable through Columbia House.
The specifics of the offers changed over the years, but RCA always offered a better deal. With a smaller library of albums, RCA offered fewer “up front,” but required members to only buy one more to complete their membership commitment. Columbia House loaded you up on the front end (11, 12, or more albums), but the membership fulfillment commitment was 5 or 6 albums within three years.
Current members recently received an email informing them that the BMG Music Service is being discontinued as of June 30, 2009. They will have until May 31 to redeem certificates or make purchases on the club’s website - bmgmusic.com.
The closing marks the end of an era. For years, both Columbia House (originally known as the Columbia Record Club) and BMG Music Service (originally known as the RCA Music Club) provided music connoisseurs a way to start or add to their music collections in bulk, with their “6 for the price of one” or “Get 11 albums free” offers.
I can still remember as a young teenager getting my introductory shipment of a dozen or albums from Columbia House and thinking, “Wow, I’ve got every album I’ve always wanted.”
A few thousand albums later, I’m still working on that – but that’s another story.
The history of the record clubs starts with Columbia, which was founded in 1955 and was originally owned by CBS Records. RCA Records started up the RCA Music Service shortly thereafter. For most of the years the clubs were in competition with each other, CBS recordings were not available from the RCA club, and RCA recordings were unavailable through Columbia House.
The specifics of the offers changed over the years, but RCA always offered a better deal. With a smaller library of albums, RCA offered fewer “up front,” but required members to only buy one more to complete their membership commitment. Columbia House loaded you up on the front end (11, 12, or more albums), but the membership fulfillment commitment was 5 or 6 albums within three years.
Ahh, those were the days...
Sony acquired Columbia House in 1987 when they bought CBS Records; the same year, RCA was acquired by Bertelsmann Music Group, and its music club was renamed BMG Music Service.
The clubs have not totally vanished - Columbia House still runs a DVD club, and BMG is going to continue its yourmusic.com service, where CDs are sold at reduced prices. But I can’t help but feel that another piece of recent Americana is fading away.
Future generations of young music fans will never know the joy of opening a big box of CDs and thinking, “Wow, I’ve got every album I’ve always wanted.”
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