Anyone who has a mailing address or has flipped through a magazine has been subjected to an advertisement for the BMG Music service. When I was younger I used to buy tapes through them, however in this new day and age of CDs and music downloads how does the BMG service rank?
The usual initial offer still being used by BMG, a company merged with Sony, is 12 CDs for the price of one with nothing more to buy. First they will have you pick 7 music CDs of your choice and they will mail them to you “free”, with you paying for the shipping and handling. If you choose 7 separate CDs then expect a bill around 20-21 dollars; just under $3 for each CD. After you have paid for your first 7 and are officially enlisted into the program, the next step is for you to buy one of their CD’s at regular price plus shipping and handling. Finally, after you have made your one purchase you get to choose 4 more free CDs, and once again only cover the shipping charges.
Every month a “featured selection” will be mailed and billed to you of their choice unless you make sure to decline it in a timely fashion. This is an easy thing to handle via the internet if you choose to have your BMG account work via E-mail instead of regular mail.
The average price for a music CD at BMG music is $18.98, figure with that the $3 shipping charge (standard shipping) and you are looking at a costs of about $22 a CD. Considering you can go down to a Target retail store and buy most CDs for $10 or under; or around $14 for things not on special, this pricing is not competitive. BMG does have some CDs priced as $14.98 and under, but what they do is call these “Premium” titles, and therefore are not subject to any special offers they may give to you. Special offers do arise all the time, for example “Buy 1 Get 2 Free and then unlimited at $2.99” In this deal Premium CDs do not apply, which is how most of the newer CDs or “good” CDs are marked. Therefore you buy some older CD for $18.98, then pick two more for free you are looking at a grand total of about $28. Once again, 3 CDs for $28 is not that great of a deal when the choices are very limited.
What is the worst thing about BMG? Is it the prices? The worst thing is the shipping. You are charged around $3 for every CD and this is the standard shipping method which takes 2 weeks to receive. They really drag their feet on processing your order as well. On top of this if you order a CD that is two disk in the case they charge you an extra $2 for each additional disk; even though this is not costing them extra. The mailing of packages works by weight, and to have to add an additional charge for each CD shipped is a rip off considering the service they are using to mail the packages is a slow and cheap one to begin with.
Some good ideas being used at BMG are the Overstock section and the points program. Overstock is basically the bargain bin of $1.99 CDs or around $5 after shipping. If there are bands you enjoy in this section then you will be happy, and though most of them are a crummy bands, there is a large selection. The points program at BMG is essentially: for every CD you buy they award you points; 3 points for a new CD and 1 for a cheaper CD. Once you reach 19 points you can exchange them for a fee CD. However, once again limitations are applied and keep you from getting the “premium” titles for free this way.
One way to join BMG to check them out and gain access to the occasional good deal is to choose your first 7 CDs from current popular groups and resell them on Ebay. You can then use that money if you choose wisely to cover your entry charge and your first purchase charge. The only problem that may hinder this plan is if BMG moves slowly with the shipping, which they tend to do. However, once you cover your charges and are a member there will be the occasion that you will get offers like: 75% off all CDs, which basically makes buying a CD from them the same as regular price everywhere else. Be sure not to get caught up in their supposed deals and offers because they will bombard you with them trying to get you to keep buying all of the time; be sure to do the math on costs.
In the long run BMG is geared towards making your CD collection grow, whether you want the CDs or not. So it is up to you as a consumer to be sure to pace yourself and compare prices because usually the music you want is available elsewhere and at quicker access rates than the BMG Music service.
