Streaming and downloading--along with an aging audience less interested in actual media--made the demise of not only record stores and other such outlets inevitable, but the record clubs, too. It's interesting to note the full circle nature of how another type of sound carrier made a club obsolete, given that, when the clubs began back in the early '60s, who cried foul, concerned that Columbia, Capitol and RCA would cut into their profits? Record store owners, of course! (who were, ironically, being sold the label's product at an average cost similar to that of any club member who fulfilled the basics of their initial agreement). Eventually the labels/clubs won out, probably because those three were THE BIG 3 of record companies and had the resources and clout to get away with cutting out distributors AND retailers, operating a separate club division which must have, in its heyday, yielded very nice profits.
I became a CRC (Columbia) member in 1969 and, off and on, rejoined through the '90s (something that was built into the club matrix was that it was logical to fulfill that agreement, leave, and then rejoin--again and again. When CD's took over I probably built about 25% of my collection on some of the nice goodies the clubs offered, often at truly low and appealing prices, including not only regular catalog items but some that you didn't always find in your local or major city outlet, even. So that was a big bonus.
On the vinyl end--once a hound, always a hound, heh--the labels pressed selected titles as of 1988/89 and beyond on vinyl, some of which were never issued at the store retail level. Eventually they gave that up (the clubs also made selected 8-track titles until giving up, at least a year beyond when the stores did) but despite limited selection, it was fun to get adventurous with titles that cost anywhere from $1-3 on sale; even 'regular' releases on CD might only be $10, still under what you paid at most stores.
Judging by what I see in thrifts these days, more and more CD's (and a lot of DVD's) are turning up dirt cheap, and even the better used retailers aren't gouging much. But vinyl is alive and well, and I don't doubt CD's and higher end media will stay around for some time to come. But the clubs are gone, understandable in a world about iPhones, pads, and everyone gazing into a little screen, with seemingly no time for much of anything else, and no time for the rest of us in a very private world.
ED
