You've seen the ads. "12 CDs for the price of 1!" they promise. "Nothing More to Buy — Ever!" To join, you pay the price of shipping and handling for 12 compact discs, about two bucks each. You then agree to purchase one additional CD at full price. How can a CD club afford to do that?
With all the competition from digital music services such as eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody and Yahoo Music (each of which offers free trials and flat-free unlimited streaming access to thousands of albums), the only remaining major player in the mail-order music business is BMG Music Service, which recently merged with Columbia House (which still operates its DVD club). CD clubs sell millions of discs each year, and give away millions more. The standard Columbia House offer required you to buy at least two CDs; BMG only asks that you buy one. The BMG CD club presses its own CDs, tacks on shipping and handling fees of about $2 per CD, and works out special royalty deals with the labels, but the real profit comes from people who buy CDs or cassettes at full price beyond their membership requirements. BMG offers all sorts of come-ons to entice you to buy, the most effective of which was those infamous "negative-option" cards you had to return when you received a catalog every three weeks or so. If you neglected to check off a box that reads "Please do not send the featured selection" and mail it back promptly, you automatically received the featured disc and an invoice. However, BMG now allows members to respond online.
The best BMG deal online is 12 CDs for the price of one, which is available to residents of the U.S. and its territories, along with members of the military who have APO-FPO addresses. At the official BMG site, you can choose seven free CDs up front for the price of shipping ($2.79 each), purchase one for at least $14.98 plus shipping, and then choose four more for the price of shipping. A credit card is required to pay the initial shipping charges. The selection includes thousands of titles — and perhaps its entire catalog of 10,000 albums — and you can search by artist or album name. With the $2.79 per CD shipping charge (but excluding sales tax, which is different in each state), each deal will cost you about $4 per disc.
The BMG catalog that arrives every three weeks or so include sales to entice you to buy more than the one-disc minimum. For instance, the club might offer an album at half-price if you buy one at full price. If you have the patience, wait a few months before you make your full-price purchase. You will notice that if you don't buy immediately, the club ups the ante. For example, BMG may dangle a buy-one-get-two-free offer. When it does, purchase your required full-price album over the phone and order your remaining bonus and free albums at the same time. This will cut down on your shipping costs. If the club doesn't have the CD you're after, you may be able to buy it at a discount at an online retailer. Click here for current coupons and discounts.
Once you've fulfilled your membership requirements and received your albums, cancel your membership by writing "Please Cancel My Membership" on your negative-option card, or otherwise notifying the clubs in writing. You may get another card before your cancellation takes effect; return it to avoid any bookkeeping snafus. And don't sign up your friends through the offers that both clubs will send you — it's not the best deal that either of you can get.
After you've waited a few weeks or months and feel the need for more cheap music, join again. BMG doesn't seem to have strict rules about "in and outing" as long as you pay promptly and fulfill your membership requirements. After you quit but before you rejoin, the lovesick clubs will attempt to woo you with junk mail offers. Don't feel bad about throwing these away — to the clubs, you are a name, address and checking account number.
So, to review:
1. Don't feel obligated to choose only from the albums listed in the print catalogs you'll receive every three weeks or so. Instead, use the online catalog to find the albums you want.
2. Don't buy any more than the minimum, no matter how enticing the "buy one, get one half price" offers become. If you have the patience, hold out on buying your full-price selection until they offer a 3-for-1 catalog special.
3. Don’t get yourself on the shit list by not paying what you owe. This is not about fraud. Many people have joined more than once under variations on their name, or by using their home and work addresses. The clubs don't seem to mind as long as the bills are paid. Don't go to extremes, of course: One 60-year-old loser recently pleaded guilty to mail fraud for receiving 26,554 CDs addressed to 2,417 fake customer accounts at 16 post office boxes in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He faced up to five years in prison.
4. When you join, phone or write asking that your name not be sold to other marketers. If you don't, expect junk mail.
5. If you remain a member of BMG after fulfilling your requirements (i.e. you buy one album), phone and ask to be placed on the "Order-Only" option. In the biz, this is known as changing from "negative option" to "positive option."
6. If you have trouble and need to reach customer service for any reason, phone BMG at 317-692-9200 or send email. Canada residents can join here. U.K. residents may join the Time-Life music clubs.