ColumbiaHouse
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We were stealing music way before the internet and millennials
When I was 13, my babysitter showed up with a box of 12 new cassettes. I was amazed that she had been able to afford all this music. I grew up poor and even one new purchase was news; a dozen purchases was cause for celebration. Had she robbed a bank? Found a wad of twenties in a misplaced wallet? Been blessed by the benevolent lottery gods? Seeing the wonder in my eyes she grabbed the TV Guide sitting on the coffee table and opened it up to an advertisement for Columbia House, and there it was in bold letters: "12 tapes for a penny." Thus began my life of crime.
Columbia House hopes you'll come back for vinyl records
To put it mildly, Columbia House has seen better days. The mail-order service went bankrupt this summer, and it's hard to see the allure of regularly buying movie discs when downloads and streaming are within easy reach. The company thinks it has an answer, however: it's restarting the Columbia House Record Club with a focus on vinyl records. It's betting that the resurgence of the old format and the popularity of subscription services (think Birchbox or Lootcrate) will draw in a younger audience. Columbia hasn't nailed down the launch details yet, but it'd return to the outlet's roots with membership and steep discounts.
Columbia House owner wants to drop its mail-order business
Believe it or not, Columbia House's mail-order media business is still around -- although it might not be for much longer. Its parent company, Filmed Entertainment, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to "pursue an orderly sale" of the Columbia House DVD Club, the last remnant of a once-great distribution empire (it ditched music back in 2010). You won't be shocked by the reason why, of course: the "advent of digital media" negated Columbia House's reason for being. Why pay for a steady flow of discs when a combination of streaming services and downloads will cover the bases far more effectively? Columbia House will keep running during the sell-off, but we can't imagine that prospective buyers will want much more than the recognizable name and some sales agreements. [Image credit: Classic Film, Flickr]
Columbia House still exists, launches first Blu-ray specific club
Those of us that grew up in the 80s and 90s probably remember being bombarded by ads from music clubs promising subscription plans of tapes and CDs for cheap. Of course, what usually happened for anyone suckered in was finding a stack of albums they never wanted, a rapidly growing bill and customer service that apparently had a blood-in, blood-out policy to letting subscribers quit. Shockingly, Direct Brands Inc. is still around and although they gave up on music a couple of years ago they're still in the movie business and just launched their first Blu-ray specific club. For $5.99 (plus s&h) each new subscribers get two Blu-ray discs -- provided they also buy three more movies in the next year at "regular club prices" starting at $19.95. There may be a value proposition in there, but our 13-year old self is saying to take a long look at the fine print before signing anything.
Columbia House to add HD movies this fall?
Love them or hate them, Columbia House has a lot of members, and it looks like those members will have access to both HD DVD and Blu-ray this fall. While they haven't announced anything officially, someone has noticed that in their membership FAQ (requires logon) they answer the question "Will Columbia House support both of these new formats?" with, "this fall." Five HD movies for fifty cents each would be pretty nice, but we're not sure if it's worth having to overpay for the rest of the titles.Read -- Upcoming titles
