From “hobby” to “affordable source of joy”

Grammoclub, an offshoot of the Ex Libris Book Club, was the brainchild of Elsa Gasser, economic advisor to Migros. Despite a boycott by the industry, Grammoclub quickly became a major player in the Swiss music market.

As LP records began to emerge, Migros employee Elsa Gasser had the idea that Ex Libris could also sell records. No sooner said than done, Ex Libris sold its first records in 1952. The records cost half what they did in the specialised shops and a cheap 3-speed turntable machine was also available for purchase. Migros’ annual report described this as «epoch-defining», taking records from being «hobby to an affordable source of joy for medium to low income people». Ten years later, the Ex Libris Grammoclub had already sold some 700,000 records, about half of which were of classical music. Migros saw this as a «decisive contribution to the fight against the excesses of the unbridled business of pop music. » Sales were remarkable, especially in view of the recorded music industry’s boycott, which pushed Grammoclub to cooperate with the American record club MMS and set up its own production in Switzerland. Only in 1965 did the industry yield to the power of Grammoclub in the Swiss market, calling off the boycott.