BMG Music a Scam?

Is BMG Music Service a Scam or a Deal?

You've probably seen their ads that say "12 CDs for the Price of 1!" and you've probably wondered like I have "what's the catch?" I wondered if they charge so much for shipping and handling that you're really paying full-price. I went to the BMG Music website to see what it was all about. I looked around to see if they had the CDs I was looking for. With the exception of one or two artists, they carried most everything I was looking to buy. I noticed that their prices were higher than I like to spend for a CD. I read that you get 7 free CDs first, then you have to buy one CD at regular price and you can get your remaining four free CDs. I decided to try it.

They let me choose 7 free CDs up front but I had to pay for the shipping and handling. The shipping and handling for the 7 CDs totaled $19.53. A little while later I fulfilled my commitment by purchasing one CD at full price and at the same time I was able to choose my remaining 4 free CDs. The full-priced CD plus the shipping and handling on that CD and the four free ones came to $33.02. If you add together the $19.53 for the first shipment and the $33.02 for the second shipment that makes $52.55. Divide that by 12 (the number of CDs I got in total for that price) and you'll find that each CD cost me $4.38. That's not bad for a brand new CD so I'm happy with the outcome.

The only drawback is that after I joined they started sending me a "featured selection" email every month. If I didn't respond to the email saying I didn't want the featured selection they would automatically send it to me and charge me for it, and those CDs you have to pay for aren't cheap. But I figure having to say no to the featured selection once a month is a small price to pay to get 12 CDs for the price of one. I'm even ordering some CDs as gifts. And get this-- once I purchased my one CD at full price and got all 11 free CDs I didn't have to stay a member for a year or anything. I just cancelled my membership and signed up all over again to get 11 more free CDs! To see the BMG music catalog, click here.
What about Columbia House Music Club?
Didn't they have a similar deal? Yes, they did. I looked it up and this is what I found on the Columbia House website: "The Columbia House Music Club is officially closing its doors on September 1, 2005. Columbia House Music Club memberships in good standing will automatically be converted to BMG Music Service memberships on September 1, 2005."

So it looks like the two have merged or something. But Columbia House started a new program called Your Music. With Your Music all CDs are $5.99 with free shipping. There are none of those annoying monthly "featured selections". You simply place the CDs you want in your "music queue" and once a month they send you the next CD in your queue. So if you're the busy no-nonsense type you might like the Your Music program better than BMG. Visit the Your Music website to learn more. Your Music also offers something that you can't get from BMG: you can purchase gift subscriptions in 3, 6, 9, or 12 month increments for just $5.99 per month. An email is sent to the recipient announcing the gift subscription. The gift recipient can then log on to yourmusic.com and create a personal Music Queue of CDs. The first available CD in the queue will arrive each month during the subscription period, so it's like a "CD of the month club" where they get to choose the CDs.

Credit: Some guy with more patience than me.