BMG No More

As yet another sign of the end of physical music, BMG music service is going out of business, ceasing to service your CD needs (or wants). In an email set about a month ago to all members, BMG stated that their music service was being discontinued as of June30th. This is a real shame. Since Columbia House stopped servicing music years ago (opting to sell that portion of their business to BMG), there will no longer be a mail order music shop that offers you “12 CDs for the price of one, with nothing more to buy…ever! “

I’m going to miss that. Columbia House and BMG helped to grow a large portion of my enormous music collection and they did it 6, 9, 12 CDs at a time. Nothing was more exciting than seeing that package come in the mail, filled with multiple goodies that I could listen to for weeks on end. The feeling was like no other, and I exercised my right to feel that way quite often.

While this is a nostalgic sadness for me, it is a real nail in the coffin of the physical format music. As more and more people are using their computers, IPODs, phones, and MP3 players to store their music, they are drifting further and further away from the physical format of music. The younger generation especially is going to be a digitized music appreciator and will likely have less physical formatted music than any other before them. I know that my stepdaughter has a very limited supply of CDs (most of them my wife and I purchased for her), but she has a ton of music on her IPOD and phone. That is the way of the future.

I understand it from a convenience standpoint. I mean, who wouldn’t want to take their entire music collection with them wherever they go? For me, however, it’s more than just the music. It’s the thrill of the linear notes. It’s the excitement of holding the actual CD in your hand. I know we are all moving toward a greener tomorrow, and that CD jewel cases contribute to a lot of used plastic, but I plan on keeping mine stored forever anyway, along with a few CD players and stereo. I’ll just will them to someone who will leave them for someone, and so on, and so forth.

And perhaps the loss of BMG is for the best. They certainly did get a lot of my money, although I know I’ll just find a new way to spend it on music. It might even be in the form of downloading albums for instant gratification.

What do you think? Are you going to miss the mail order music clubs, or have you already moved on to the instant download world?

Comments are open. Feel free to post some.