Summary: The mail-order music club Columbia House is closing down after their parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week.
The sign of the times is clear; music has turned digital. With $1.4 billion in sales at one time, the once popular mail-order music club Columbia House of over 50 years will be no more. Their parent company, Filmed Entertainment Inc., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Columbia House is the company that offered deals like 13 records for $1 or 12 cassettes for a penny but also faced several class actions and legal problems for the membership requirements. They stopped providing music in 2010, becoming Columbia House DVD Club by continuing to provide their customers with TV series and music sales. However, sales continued to drop and their total earnings in 2014 only reached $17 million.
Last year marked the first year where streaming music made more money than CD sales. Spotify is estimated to be worth more than the entire music industry. It will be no big surprise as other similar companies to Columbia House are forced to close their doors as well unless they can find a way to attract the customers using Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, HULU, Netflix, and many more for their music, film, and TV entertainment needs.
Photo: postalnews.com