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RIP Columbia House

lakeeffect

lakeeffect

Super Member
The memorable "12-for-a-penny" mail order music provider is finally going away. Yes, they went bankrupt 11 years ago but it didn't kill them off completely.

I'm pretty sure I've got an Elton John and a Three Dog Night cassette somewhere in a junk box that survive from falling for the come-on when I was a teenager.

gizmodo.com

R.I.P. Columbia House: Here’s How It Improbably Survived This Long

It wasn't music streaming that killed it, because it pivoted.
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Never fell for that.

#1- even in their 200 titles in the ad, I could never find 12 I was interested in.

#2- I was aware of "the hook", and knew I couldn't afford to buy even three more "at regular price", let alone (gasp) allow them to choose for me.

101% "not for me".

Not to mention their labels/inserts were all proprietary and different from "regular" packaging.
 
I was bitten. I chose Pop / Rock as my category. Turned out to be an okay deal overall. And I could change from their monthly selection choice to my own. And you could return records you didn’t like, IIRC. Still have Boz’s “Silk Degrees” LP, one of their monthly selections that slipped in, and that I didn’t regret.
 
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I just heard the dj on WEQX talking about this.

Add me to the list of people who had no idea they were still around.

I thought it was a great way to get my record collection started as a kid.

I also remember what I believe was called the military book club or something like that. I had a ton of great books that -sadly- are all scattered now by donating or giving to friends before various moves.
 
I also had the military book club membership, but folks don't (and sometimes, can't) read.

Orwell thought they'd burn books.
Huxley said no, why burn when no one would read them?

When one doesn't have the ability or compulsion to read, they'll believe any chit the screen tells them.
 
RVT1K said:
I just heard the dj on WEQX talking about this.

Add me to the list of people who had no idea they were still around.

I thought it was a great way to get my record collection started as a kid.

I also remember what I believe was called the military book club or something like that. I had a ton of great books that -sadly- are all scattered now by donating or giving to friends before various moves.
Click to expand...
I was a member of the Military Book Club. Got some great books.

One of my favorites is “War Underground,” about the tunneling during World War I. Was made into an outstanding movie.
 
I will say this- they caused me to "do the math" for the first time I can remember using it for a practical application...and the result was that I couldn't afford it.
 
I recall the commitment being fairly reasonable. Wasn't it something like buying another six records in two years?

The reason I remember quitting was a lack of selection after initially stocking up.
 
...but they sent you one a month, and you were on the hook to send it back.

VERY similar to todays model of "the app is free for 2 months....then just 19.99 a month for the rest of your life"*




*unless you also subscribe to an app that finds and cancels your forgotten billable apps.
(Hmm, what if you forget about that app?)
 
WAY too much labor for an active 14-15 year old...and they'd probably send me Donny and Marie.
 
YY1 said:
...but they sent you one a month, and you were on the hook to send it back.

VERY similar to todays model of "the app is free for 2 months....then just 19.99 a month for the rest of your life"*




*unless you also subscribe to an app that finds and cancels your forgotten billable apps.
(Hmm, what if you forget about that app?)
Click to expand...

We are talking about a loooonnnnng time ago but I don't remember getting an album every month. Was there a way to say "..no thanks , not this month.." via the mail?
 
Right, that was a long time ago.

I seem to remember something along the lines of....being able to opt out, but only 2-3 times during the contract period.

I did do a fair amount of research on this......in the 1980's.


The whole marketing model was that they were counting on you to forget, and just accept what they sent each month...at full retail, or maybe even higher.

Instead, I found a local used record store.

Got way more of what I was interested in, on my own schedule, and at roughly 40 cents on the dollar.

The only caveat was waiting for new releases to get into circulation. Fair trade IMO, as retail was always an option if I just had to have it NOW.
 
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