The BMG Music Club has delivered music directly to the homes of customers for over half a century. Features include:
' Pick 7 CDs for free online now; Buy 1 CD at regular price within a year; Get 4 More Free. You pay only shipping and handling and any applicable tax.
' Thousands of brand-new titles are now available in the Club-over 14,000 hits in all-from pop to classical, light contemporary to metal, country to jazz, R&B to modern rock.
' 10-Day, Risk-Free Trial. If you are not satisfied with your BMG purchase within 10 days of receiving them simply return them at BMGs expense with no further obligation.
The two major players in the mail-order music business are Columbia House and BMG Music Service . CD clubs sell millions of discs each year, and give away millions more. The standard Columbia House offer requires you to buy at least two CDs; BMG asks that you buy one. The clubs press their own CDs, tack on shipping and handling fees of about $2 per CD, and work 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. Each club 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.
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 two free CDs up front or choose five free CDs up front for the price of shipping ($2.79 each), purchase one for at least $14.98 plus shipping, and then choose nine or six more for the price of shipping. Unlike Columbia House, no credit card is required to join (you can ask to be billed). The selection includes thousands of titles ' and perhaps its entire catalog of 15,000 albums ' and you can search by artist or album name. If you use a credit card to pay for the initial shipping charges you can choose seven free CDs up front for the price of shipping, buy one, and then choose four more free. 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. You also may search BMG by genre.