It's like outliving 12 of your children (with nothing more to buy)
News of BMG Music Club's nearing death was sad but not unexpected. Music Points were gone, and the catalog appeared to be decreasing. Your Music was a clear successor, built from BMG's evolved Web-to-mail model but simplified in usage and pricing, likely to their parent's gain.
You figured BMG had two classes of users. The wizards rejected the Featured Selections by e-mail (no return to sender needed), worked the coupons, kept their per-CD price points low, stuck around forever, and bought only when conditions were met. The simples, meanwhile, paid at least $18.98 a month for the Featured Selection, except when they mailed stuff back, before escaping the club and becoming a costly retention problem. Neither group was smooth sailing for the business.
So, Your Music went down the middle, and BMG Music Club had to die. The new model charged $6.99 a month with no S+H — near the price point that made BMG wizards buy — and simply sent you a CD in your queue. If your queue was empty, the monthly charge still happened. Gone were 12-for-1 deals, the coupon battles, the return mess, S+H confusion, high visible prices, and likely some of the retention costs.
After getting the announcement, I've made my final run through the Pop/Rock catalog and plan to watch just New Releases from here on out. My selections are in my cart, awaiting a price point below the current $6.33 because I'm one of those people. In the meantime, I'd like to thank BMG for introducing me to the albums of: most of Bruce, Dylan, U2, Elvis Costello, Sinatra, The Faces, Johnny Cash, old Wilco, the Clash, and John Legend, among others. The service, like both my old computer and sneakers, served me well for nine and a half years.
Via Crumbler, we get a great line from a NPR blogger: "BMG's music service was — for many of us — our first foray into mail fraud, scams and thievery. … First, and easiest, involved a fake name. " I was Patrick L Coopernium. That was as far as my planning got, with no second, third or fourth accounts. But I appreciated the opportunity.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:11 AM
[...] the painting, introducing me to the pseudonym, all in extra thanks to a earlier (and final?) intro from BMG Music Club. Still like the movie, but now I [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 5:54 PM
[...] been a member since 1985") at the DVD Talk forums, who earn karmic rewards (but not the now-mourned BMG Music Points) for as much as info as they share on coupons and deals. With the $6.99, no s+h, [...]