Columbia House Is Shutting Down

Columbia House, the 71-year-old mail-order music club that is somehow still operating in 2026, is finally shutting down for good. ”After 9/15/26, The Columbia House will no longer be accepting new orders,” reads a recent message on its website. “You can still purchase books with your credit card or credits as normal.” The news was first spotted by YouTube channel Channel 33 RPM and later written up by the blog Cord Cutter News. We’ve reached out to Columbia House for further comment.

Columbia House was founded as Columbia Record Club in 1955 by its namesake music label to mail albums directly to hard-to-reach consumers. It promised to send a set of LPs for mere pennies in exchange for purchasing additional releases down the road at full cost. Columbia House would eventually hit a peak of 16 million members in 1996, in large part due to its ubiquitous commercials, including one soundtracked by what sure sounds like the guy who did the Full House theme song. (Listen to him joyfully singing about bringing you “the best in entertainment” to keep the company’s “value high” below.)

After switching ownership multiple times, Columbia House filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and stopped selling music entirely, sticking with DVDs only. In addition to its longtime reputation as a CD juggernaut, the company was frequently criticized for its shady business practices, including negative option billing, where a customer continued to get billed after signing up for a service unless they expressly requested a cancellation.

Alex Suskind has overseen music coverage for New York magazine’s Vulture and, before that, Entertainment Weekly. He has written about TV, film, technology, politics, and tons of other stuff for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, and The Fader. ... Read More