Record subscription services

[The_Lurker]

There are lots of these things around and I'd like to try a few...Black Box Record Club, Vinyl Me Please, etc.

I recently gave VNYL a go and had a very mixed experience. I wrote about it here and the story includes an unboxing video explainer.

Anyone a subscriber to any of these? Which ones did you try/like? Do you prefer a curator to surprise you based on your likes/dislikes or do you like to know what you're getting in advance?

[Lopez]

Years and years ago, I belonged to Record Club of America. I liked the idea that you'd only pay for the records you wanted and that none would be sent on approval. I bought two that way - the first Crimson and the first Thunderclap Newman. The albums were original in heavy stock sleeves. Only complaint was that the "Record Club of America" sticker on the back of the jacket was impossible to remove without damaging the cover. After those two, I never heard from that club again.

[Shadow]

Years and years ago, I belonged to Record Club of America. I liked the idea that you'd only pay for the records you wanted and that none would be sent on approval. I bought two that way - the first Crimson and the first Thunderclap Newman. The albums were original in heavy stock sleeves. Only complaint was that the "Record Club of America" sticker on the back of the jacket was impossible to remove without damaging the cover. After those two, I never heard from that club again.

They didn't come shrink wrapped.

[Gruno]

Lopez, did they go out of business or just not deliver anything else?

[Koreabruce]

Columbia House!

[Lopez]

Lopez, did they go out of business or just not deliver anything else?

What little I could find out about them was they quietly went out of business. Looks like they were sued for pressing copies of records without license. Here's an interesting website about them: http://roadsidewonders.net/recordclubofamerica/. As of 11 years ago, their building outside of York, PA, still existed with piles of vinyl visible in the windows.

[zappaeverafter]

Years and years ago, I belonged to Record Club of America. I liked the idea that you'd only pay for the records you wanted and that none would be sent on approval. I bought two that way - the first Crimson and the first Thunderclap Newman. The albums were original in heavy stock sleeves. Only complaint was that the "Record Club of America" sticker on the back of the jacket was impossible to remove without damaging the cover. After those two, I never heard from that club again.

Yeah. I purchased possibly upwards of 40 albums from them in the early '70s. I don't recall how that ended for me. I subscribed to Billboard magazine through the '70s and likely saw one or more news blurbs about their demise and just stopped doing business with them. From my recollection, they seemed to have better access to certain labels over others. And some of this was driven by (loose?) licensing rights for manufacturing. So, some of what was prominent for me during that time was the Atlantic/ATCO/Cotillion and Dunhill/Probe labels. Which meant that I acquired the first 4 Colosseum, first 2 Soft Machine, Woodstock soundtrack, Fragile/Close to the Edge, Allman Bros Fillmore/Eat a Peach, several Cactus, Zeppelin III & 4, some Steppenwolf and my first Coltrane's on Atlantic and Impulse. I don't recall getting any Columbia/Epic or RCA releases by anyone.