Columbia House C/D

Also, I have something like six discs that have begun to rot from the perimeter inward. Of those, most are Columbia House and BMG discs. (To be fair, most of the older discs I have are record club discs.)

Having said that, as a teenager clubs let me hear loads of music I otherwise might not have heard -- or at least music I wouldn't have been able to own (at retail prices) and thus build a strong relationship with.

i have three discs currently doing this. i have duplicated them in preparation for the inevitability they will end up unplayable.

Back in the day, when this was an actual issue, it was explained that when bought through the "12 for a Penny" deals, the artists got nothing (written off as promotion), when they were bought at the usual club price, artists got half of what they would through a record store bought version of the same disc. This is why artists started having things written into their contracts that Columbia House versions of their albums wouldn't be released until around a year after release.

Also, I have something like six discs that have begun to rot from the perimeter inward. Of those, most are Columbia House and BMG discs.

I can't really imagine Sony/Warner Bros. and BMG are using different methods of manufacturing their discs through their clubs than they do for their discs sent through retail outlets. That must just be a coincidence.

Well, the problem with disc rot was due to lousy manufacturing conditions at a few very certain plants, I was led to understand. For a company like Columbia House, where they're giving away many of these CDs for a fraction of a penny, wouldn't it make sense to go with the cheapest manufacturing possible? (Provided, of course, that they're not manufactured at the same time as the regular retail versions?)

Possibly -- and many of my older discs are record club discs, so it's not really a fair comparison. On the other hand, I do remember repeatedly reading that the CD clubs press most of their own discs "in-house". One link I found indicated that something called the Digital Audio Disc Corporation in Terre Haute, IN presses "all the CDs for the Columbia House CD Club and most of the major labels" -- make of that what you will.

(Conversely, one of the more notorious epidemics of disc rot -- albeit rot of a different kind, "bronzing" -- was suffered by the Hyperion label, a very high-quality outfit whose discs generally go for US$16 and up.)

Marge: Homer, do you have an explanation for this bill?

Homer: Oh, it's that record club. The first nine were only a penny.
Then they jacked up the price! [breaks down crying] It's not fair! It's not fair, I tells ya!

Hmm, sound quality I wouldn't necessarily notice, but volume I do - some of my discs are clearly quieter than others. I'm not sure it breaks down into Music Club v. Store Bought, though. Can anyone explain?

The story is that they were continually screwing up my orders. Some would never arrived, although I'd be charged. A few took up to four months to arrive. Their customer service is nonexistent at this point: they no longer have a phone number I can call and speak with an actual person, and the customer service email is responded to my drones who send out form letters without having read the questions I've posed regarding the bad charges, etc.

Finally I asked to prematurely cancel my membership, but I stated in no uncertain terms that I would not like to be charged for the remaining full price items I needed to purchase. A representative wrote back and seemingly agreed to these terms, saying only that I had to return to them x number of CDs from my enrollment package, which I did. Today I receive an invoice saying that I need to order four more full-price CDs for the ridiculous total of $105.05 in order to extricate myself from the Club.

What I think I'm going to do is ignore this last invoice rather than try again to get through to the knuckleheads at their service department. If they choose to charge my card anyway, I will instruct my credit card company to challenge and eventually reverse the charges. I'll keep the invoice and emails as a paper trail, but will otherwise act like I have no relationship with CH whatever and certainly no financial obligation.

Is this a sound tactic?

for awhile i was buying copies of the flaming lips 'zaireeka' from them for 99 cents, then selling them on ebay for $40. i quit doing it when i got out of columbia house for good, but i kept the last copy of it. still never listened to it.

my cds haven't arrived yet i order in 1998 can you resend

to better assist you, can you please list the contents of your order?

I discovered a shit ton of music through Columbia House and RCA in the 70s and early 80s.

I thought BMG was the better club, at least during the CD era - only 1 overpriced CD as a membership obligation while Columbia House had something like 6. Columbia House once had Columbia/CBS/Sony titles exclusive to their club, but that was no longer the case in the '00s, possibly due to the Sony and BMG merger.

to better assist you, can you please list the contents of your order?

― ミ💙🅟 🅛 🅤 🅡 🅜 🅑💙彡 (Austin), Monday, August 29, 2022 2:58 PM bookmarkflaglink

Starland Vocal Band - Greatest Hits
Santana - Supernatural
Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy Up the Girl

well the good news is that i found your order and will resend it asap. the bad news is that you're also getting a copy of yourself or someone like you by mnatchbox twenty.

natchbox twenty: they play the same chord progression and tempo on every song.

Snatchbox 20

If it wasn't for Columbia House, I very likely would not own my own personal copy of Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione.