What Happened to CD Clubs & Stores to Buy CDs?


I feel like I've lived under a rock for the past 2 years. I haven't bought much to add to my library in that time, and now I'm shocked.

There used to be BMG Music Club and Columbia Club. You could get most of the main Classical repertory from them, including box sets of symphonies, etc.

Now, it appears there is a BMG/Sony DVD Club that offers some CDs, but only a fraction of what was a few years ago.

For example, I couldn't find Bernstein's CBS or Solti's London Mahler cycles, except in the UK!

The site is pathetic. It is totally oriented around DVDs/movies, and searches will bring you to other websites, including Amazon.com.

What happened to all the releases of the huge and vast classical repertoire of budget, midprice, full price and sets that were so plentiful? Are they not even in print anymore?

Prices I found are higher than they were 5 years ago. I see basic 2 CD classical releases at prices like $39.95 for a DG Karajan Mahler 9th. Unbelievable.

I didn't even check the jazz repertoire to see what has happened there.

Would someone educate me in my naiveity?
saxo

Showing 1 response by saxo

The recording industry's greed caused this demise. If they had reduced prices instead of increasing them (after all, a CD costs 50 cents to make), as would have made sense after twenty years of manufacturing this medium, places like Tower and others would have continued to exist and make money.

Prices went the opposite way. For a number of years, full line CDs were $14.99. There was a time when EMI, I believe, reduced full line prices to $12.99. The problem was that the other labels didn't want to follow suit. After that, we slowly saw a decline in CD sales, and then a price increase upward, where full line at Tower were $16.99 to $18.99.

Tower used to have great sales: $11.99-$12.99 for full line, $8.99-$9.99 for mid line, $5.99-$6.99 for budget line. This spurred sales, and people bought and bought. But, for the greedy labels, this wasn't good enough, so, over time, these sales became less frequent. Tower would have a January storewide sale where everything was on sale, even imports and small labels that never went on sale.

Like every aspect of our great economy/society, it's all disintegrating and nobody gives a damn.