Record Club CDs-Good Product?

I stayed away from record club/house LP pressings like the plague -- and still do. Are record club CDs also inferior pressings?

 

Not necessarily.

Many times, they send the same versions that you get in the stores; they don't even have the "manufactured by Columbia House" or the "D" catalog number as on the BMG issues. I got my copy of Neil Young's Freedom from one of the clubs, and it was in every way identical to the store copy.

I've got hundreds of record-club CDs and have yet to encounter one that was decidedly inferior to a "store" version.

 

They should be no different from retail versions.

 

Not in my experience.

Stereophile once compared them against regular releases and found no difference save the mention of the cd club on the packaging.

I knew someone who worked at the Cinram cd plant in Toronto. He confirmed that all discs were the same masters and pressing plant.

Of course there may be differences with Japanese/EU imports.

 

Great, thanx for the info, gentlemen!

 

Sometimes they forget to include the booklet. I've got two copies of the Grease Soundtrack Deluxe Edition from BMG ... neither one of them came with the booklet.

I must add though, except for this problem (and a lot of cracked cases!) I've never had a problem with CDs that came from the record clubs.

 

All of the ones I have are fine, CD-quality wise (i.e. "Mutations" still has Diamond Bollocks, etc.).

They do occasionally change packaging around. Their version of Zappa's "Shut Up and Play Your Guitar" is in a jewel-case instead of a box (almost an improvement), and there're packaging issues reported on "Lather."

 

I remember Columbia House used to press it's own records, apparently with master stampers.

CD's, however, are exactly identical, except for Columbia or BMG being stamped on them.

Evan

 

The only diff is sometimes the packaging. Slip cases missing. Discs that should be digipaks in jewel boxes (to some this is an advantage).

 

I"ve gotten CDs from BMG that have no "mfd by BMG" labels printed on them. They look just like the retail CDs. A couple of the Dylan SACDs I got from BMG were sealed with labels just like they had at regular retail stores.

Some box sets are without BMG markings too.

 

Of course, there is the small issue of smaller artist royalties from the record clubs, but I won't go there...

 

I've been with BMG for years and have never had an issue or a problem with their sound quality.

 

Never had a problem. Customer service is surprisingly good. Once, when they did ship the wrong disc, they quickly sent out a replacement, told me to keep the wrong one, and didn't charge me for either.

 

I always wondered why the music clubs had to stamp their covers, record labels, dead wax, CD tray inserts, etc.

 

I have no experience with record clubs, but I would wonder WHY those releases should sound worse than their regular counterparts. I guess a new mastering (be it better or worse) would be too expensive to justify a special release that (as what I understand) is cheaper than the regular CD. It just makes no sense. But what makes sense in the music industry anyway?

 

Simple..so you don't go to a store saying: I lost my receipt... can I exchange this CD for a different one?

 

Really? That's the reason? For LPs, too? God, that's an odd one.

 

Hey, I do that all the time.

Tower has been pretty good to me. If I get something from BMG that doesn't have BMG labeling, I'm tempted to trade it at Tower for something I can't get thru BMG.

I remember the Aretha Franklin box set, it didn't have any BMG marking on it. So I traded it for another box set at Tower.

 

I'm also a long time customer of both BMG and Columbia House. I even remember the BMG Video Club (that was something!).

Have always had a great experience.

These days my cds average out at $7.19 per.

 

There was an article in Stereophile, http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/55/index.html that talked about a jitter problem with record club CDs. This was 1994 and might not be a problem anymore. I've never had any complaints with my club CDs, although I haven't compared them with store bought ones. The article is very interesting though.

 

I always understood the BMG club discs were the same pressings as the commercial issues. But now for the first time ever, I find I'm questioning it.

I have the BMG club issue of James Brown "The CD of JB" (first volume). I used to have the regular issue, and if I remember rightly, "I Got The Feeling" used to come to a rather abrupt end. Now it fades, on the club CD... Also, the general sound quality is poor.

Interesting?

 

I've done numerous comparison's between Record Club and Regular Editions...No difference Years ago, with LPs's and cassettes, MAJOR difference...Today we have the unfortunate branding of the Clubs insignia, address, etc...With BMG, on their House brands, they are Exactly as the Regular Editions...Same goes for Columbia House

 

CDs don't bother me so much (except for the royalty issue), but LPs and reel tapes? I avoid 'em like the plague. I have a couple and they just sound flat-out strange. The CDs seem to sound pretty good, but I've never compared since I've never purchased two of the same title.