Now that Columbia House has been acquired by BMG, who will take the place of the music club giant's competitor? The emerging company YourMusic appears to be the industry's newest contender. But with a pricing structure so different from the traditional music club, is it a better buy than BMG? In this article, we'll compare CD clubs, digging through the marketing hype and the confusing pricing structure to determine the best buy.

Compare CD Clubs BMG vs. YourMusic: Cost

It's difficult to resist the allure of a mailbox full of free CDs, but are these CD's really free? Will you end up paying for these 'free' CDs by way of shipping charges and overpriced CD's that you're obligated to purchase later?

First, let's examine BMG's pricing structure to determine the cost of a single CD. BMG advertises 12 CDs for the price of 1. However, you must pay $2.79 shipping and handling per CD; information that they do not make readily available in their FAQ section.

The cost of a 'Free' BMG CD

12 total CDs at a delivery cost of $2.75 each: $2.79 x 12 = $33.48
1 regular priced CD (most are $18.98): $18.98

Total cost of 12 'free' CDs: $52.46

The newest CD club competitor YourMusic doesn't attempt to hook you with visions of a mailbox full of CDs. YourMusic pricing structure is refreshingly simple with a cost of $6.99 for each CD. Compare this with the $14.98 - $24.98 sticker price of BMG CD's and you might initially think that YourMusic offers a much better deal.

Even better is that YourMusic charges nothing at all for shipping. It can feel irritating to shell out extra money to ship a CD when you could have just picked it up for free at your local Walmart.

With a $6.99 sticker price and zero cost for shipping and handling, buying CD's through YourMusic definitely works out to be less expensive than buying CD in your local store. However, and quite surprisingly, buying CDs through YourMusic is not necessarily cheaper than buying from BMG, depending on how many you buy.

Compare BMG vs. YourMusic for the cost of the first 12 CDs:

BMG: $52.46
YourMusic: $83.88

But what about commitments? What is the cost of those CD's you're obligated to purchase after those first 12?

Compare CD Clubs BMG vs. YourMusic: Commitments

Whether it's buying CD's online or getting hitched, many of us have a fear of commitment. It's discomforting to know that we are required to buy a certain number of future CDs from a particular company whether we want to or not. However, BMG's commitment is one that even the most commitment phobic can handle. You're only obligated to by 1 CD over the course of an entire 1 year.

But don't think BMG is going to let you go that easily. During that year in which you are a member, the company will be sending you CDs of their choice every 3 weeks. You can choose to keep the CDs and pay for them, or you can send back within ten days. No doubt they make a small fortune from those people who never get around to sending the CD's back although they don't want the music. With BMG, you'll pay less for your first 13 CDs but will have to live with the fact that you'll be returning packages or buying a new CD every three weeks.

YourMusic will send you a CD every month also. However, it will be a CD of your choice. The way it works is that you load up your queue with your favorite CDs, one of which will be shipped to you automatically every 30 days. While you're a member, you can buy as many CDs as you like for the $6.99 price, but you'll have to be certain to keep at least one CD in your queue. If queue is empty when your monthly shipping date rolls around, you will be charged and you won't get a CD.

Compare BMG vs. YourMusic ' total commitment cost:

BMG ' 13 CD's plus shipping and handling: $74.23
YourMusic (no commitment, but the cost of 13 CDs): $90.87

Though more confusing and at first seemingly more expensive, 13 CDs from BMG actually costs less than 13 CDs from YourMusic. However, if you were to buy more than 13 CDs, a cost comparison would quickly favor YourMusic. When comparing CD clubs, there is more to consider than just the price. It's up to you to decide if the $16 difference between the two companies is worth the hassle of sending CDs back each month. Either way, both of these CD clubs offer a nice solution for building your music collection quickly.