Are CD clubs a good deal?

They used to be, before the days of the internet. Now, you are induced to join by the free offerings, that you must choose from their list. Yes, it's cheaper than buying them from a store, but you are limited in your selection by what they offer at any given time. Also, the shipping is downright theft. Buy 10 cd's, you get charged $20. Check what it actually costs to send 10 cd's all at once. Just IMHO

BMG is a nice club

but stay away from Columbia House
there you must buy 4 disc, not 1 or 2 and they have a shorter fuse on those selections of the month

I plan on enrolling in BMG, but the last time I went online to make my selections I was really dissapointed with the interface. It was very poorly organized for exploring. I'll have to check to see if it's improved at all.

I was once a member of BMG, and there are some price benefits of "sticking with", as opposed to "hitting and running". Given the selection they offer in the initial "take 12 for 99 cents", or whatever the current deal, I can't imagine anyone finding that many recordings they liked to have done so more than a time or two. I had trouble finding 12 good ones the first time!

I have mostly older CD's that I bought from BMG, some sound alright, others lousy. But then, such is the case with all recordings. I have never done an A/B between a BMG and one bought "from the store" to see if there was much difference. Has anyone else?

One thing, though. If you do quit, they will hound ceaselessly for two years, or more, to rejoin.

Never did a comparision but a number of years ago, they send out a customer service survey and I told them that I bought enough CDs each year and that I hated getting the reply card. When I forgot to reply, I would call them up and get a free shipping label to send the CD back to them and get a credit for the cost. They no longer require me to send back the reply card. I thought that was simply great and have kept with them for years. I find the sound of the CDs I have purchased sound very good on my system.