Columbia House, the mail-order club that introduced generations of Americans to new music with its “12 CDs for a penny” pitch, is shutting down. A notice on the company’s website says it will no longer accept new orders after Sept. 15, 2026. Existing memberships and outstanding purchases will still be honored as the business winds down.
The company dates to 1955, when Columbia Records, then a division of CBS, launched the Columbia Record Club to reach customers far from record stores. Members got a handful of albums for a penny in exchange for agreeing to buy more at regular club prices. The name later became Columbia House.
The model became a cultural touchstone, especially for teenage Gen Xers. By the mid-1990s it had about 16 million members and a large share of U.S. CD sales, according to reporting by Stereogum and Ultimate Classic Rock. The company later drew criticism for negative-option billing, in which selections kept arriving unless members canceled.
Ownership changed several times. Music sales ended after digital downloads and streaming took hold. Columbia House filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and continued mainly as a DVD and Blu-ray club. The website still lists a small catalog and a phone number for questions.
The notice was first widely reported after it appeared on columbiahouse.com.
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