Who Remembers 12 Records For A Penny?
You’ve heard the song “Video Killed the Radio Star”? Well, this could be a case of “Streaming Killed the Record Club”. That’s right, you have until September 15th to order anything from the good ol’ tried-and-true “Columbia House Record and Tape Club”! The iconic mail-order service will cease accepting new orders next month. It all ends on Sept. 15th. Columbia House enjoyed its heyday in the mid-1950s, when the burgeoning teenage record-buying demographic swamped the music industry with a newfound lust for Product. They Columbia House “club” forged ahead, even surviving several changes in format and shifting music tastes. It enjoyed another brief surge in popularity in the mid-90s as the expanding CD market took off. At its peak, Columbia House had 16 million members (!) and reported $1.4 billion in annual revenue. And then? Well, the bottom fell out. Digital piracy was the beginning of the end (looking at YOU, Napster). The final straw was a huge profit hit from home-subscription services like Netflix. Columbia House filed for Chapter 11 in 2015. It was recently absorbed by Sony Music Entertainment, which currently licenses the brand “Columbia House” through Edge Line Ventures.