Music Collection – is it just me?

[admin_exported]

[size=3>Now, I have very particular rules regarding the order I store my (hard copy) music collection. It drives my family nuts and gets numerous comments about being weird and obsessive! [:O] It all seems perfectly logical and straight forward to me (but then it would wouldn’t it![]). These are ‘Nicks Non-negotiable music collection rules’:

Now, I have very particular rules regarding the order I store my (hard copy) music collection. It drives my family nuts and gets numerous comments about being weird and obsessive! [:O] It all seems perfectly logical and straight forward to me (but then it would wouldn’t it![]). These are ‘Nicks Non-negotiable music collection rules’:

Collection is organised chronologically by purchase date and artist, i.e. new artists are put at the end of the collection and new cd’s of artists already in the collection are inserted at the end of that artist group.

Collection is organised chronologically by purchase date and artist, i.e. new artists are put at the end of the collection and new cd’s of artists already in the collection are inserted at the end of that artist group.

All new cd’s are placed at the end of the collection regardless until they have had one listening session on my system before being correctly catalogued as per rule 1 above. Existing artists do not get correctly located until I’ve given them the once over on the hifi. This rule still applies regardless of whether I’ve ripped the cd and listened to it on my Ipod.

All new cd’s are placed at the end of the collection regardless until they have had one listening session on my system before being correctly catalogued as per rule 1 above. Existing artists do not get correctly located until I’ve given them the once over on the hifi. This rule still applies regardless of whether I’ve ripped the cd and listened to it on my Ipod.

If I receive a bunch of cd’s through the post at the same time, they are stacked at the end (waiting for an audition on my HiFi as per rule 2) in the order of opening each package.

If I receive a bunch of cd’s through the post at the same time, they are stacked at the end (waiting for an audition on my HiFi as per rule 2) in the order of opening each package.

 

[chebby]

Music stored in W H Smiths 'lidded' CD boxes labelled Jazz1/Jazz2 etc, or Classical1/Classical2 etc. Classical (compilations) or Pop & Rock1/Pop & Rock2 etc.

All of my documentary/spoken word/drama/comedy discs are in numbered CD folders like these...

Almost everything is on a spreadsheet (on my desktop) so I know which box/folder to go to, but I rarely need it as my memory is usually quicker

.

 

[Xanderzdad]

Alphabetical by first name (to match iTunes). Then each artist is sorted chronologically by release date.

Since every CD is ripped to iTunes then I have a list automatically available in iTunes if I need to check for missing or misplaced CD's.

All stored in Ikea billy CD / DVD racks.

As is the case with yourself - my method is perfect and logical (to me!!). I do get the mickey taken for having them all alphabetical but how would I find any artists if they were random (I've got over 1100 albums!).

 

[Helmut80]

got a couple of nice smart playlists in iTunes to make sure I don't rip something and forget about it.

 

[Anonymous]

Xanderzdad:

Alphabetical by first name (to match iTunes). Then each artist is sorted chronologically by release date.

Since every CD is ripped to iTunes then I have a list automatically available in iTunes if I need to check for missing or misplaced CD's.

Xander,

What did you do before ITunes? So, chronological by release date rather than purchase and alphabetical by artist name, hmmm... I can see the logic

Do you follow the ITunes method and ignore 'The' in a bands name or do you file them under 'T'?

or what about Compliation albums? Where would 808 State sit? Under 'E' or 'S' ?

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

OCD or too much time on your hands, the lot of you!

Stacked in piles and spend hours trying to find a title - that's the way to do it......too much time on your hands? Oh, that's me!

 

[davejberry]

A-Z by album artist, album name. for solo artists and groups into IKEA's BILLY racks.. New purchases , I keep separate until I've played them a few times and they have been ripped to flac files on my external HDD and then transcoded to WMA lossless and stored on the PC.

For compilations and mix CDs, just by album title as they are stored under the artist name 'Various Artists'.

Classical is stored by orchestra then by title of the work.

Every now and again, as I run out of room to slot in new purchases, the discs get removed, cleaned and replaced on the rack to create more space and keep my better half happy.

DVDs and Blu Ray discs are by A-Z by film title and then A-Z by program title for TV stuff

 

[fayeanddavid]

chebby:
Music stored in W H Smiths 'lidded' CD boxes labelled Jazz1/Jazz2 etc, or Classical1/Classical2 etc. Classical (compilations) or Pop & Rock1/Pop & Rock2 etc.

All of my documentary/spoken word/drama/comedy discs are in numbered CD folders like these...

CDs, dvds and shoes for the Faye in the user name follow the same spreadsheet and filing format

Also, all shoes are photographed and affixed to the shoe box they are stored in!!

.

 

[marou]

Perhaps best to avoid confirming the outside world's stereotypes

 

[JacktheHead]

nicholasc1585:

This all seems perfectly normal to me, but am I alone? Does anyone else want to share their 'normal' Music collection storage rules? Looking for a little Audiophile solidarity to sooth my rising paranoia!

I personally think its getting a bit OCD. I quite like having everything random and as it comes. If I cant find a particular CD having to hunt it only makes it more enjoyable when I finally find it. If I were one of your mates I would be round your gaff swapping them over or even nicking the odd one just to put a spanner in the works.

Having said that the balance of order is restored at a click of a button when I open iTunes and I can find everything instantly.

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

My CD's are sorted by rough genre with albums by the same artist within that genre in chronological order. The genre's all flow from one to another but the subset of each micro genre is known only to me so it would just be a mess to anyone else. I keep the most recent 30 cd's on a separate shelf.

Records are in genre as well but within that they are in chronological order - artists are not together. I have two bags for my most recent purchases and then a box that holds the tunes I am playing at the moment in rough speed order.

 

[Simon Lucas]

Alphabetically by artist, and in chronological order of release within artist.

The fact that it orders alphabetically by first name was almost enough to make me abandon iTunes altogether. However, I now pass the long winter evenings by instructing iTunes to list by surname (in the 'sort by' options inside 'get info'), because my OCD (and I'm pretty sure that's what it is) won't allow David Bowie (for example) to be filed under 'D'. Because that's an abuse of the language. Obviously.

Compilations go under 'V' for 'various', and then alphabetically by title within that. Bands like 808 State or 13th Floor Elevators go after 'Z', in numerical order (of course). Bands like The Beatles or The Fire Engines are filed under 'B' and 'F'. The The are filed under 'T', after Ten Years After but before This Mortal Coil.

 

[Paul.]

You guys would freak out if you saw my DVD collection. It is loosely sorted by 'Awesomeness'. Awesome movies go at the top of the rack, ranging down to Hollie's dvds at the bottom (strictly ballroom, heathers and Pirates of the Caribbean mostly, yuck).

Its a beautiful system really, as it is self sorting. Films watched regularly stay towards the top, movies not wached so often get forced towards the bottom.

My CDs are all in big wallets now, the boxes in a crate in my parents garage. Wallets are loosely sorted by genre, sub filtered by Awesomeness.

 

[Big Chris]

Simon Lucas:Alphabetically by artist, and in chronological order of release within artist.

Me too. Surely the only sane method of storage?

 

[idc]

Genre, alphabetical within genre and thats it for the CDs. As for Spotify and itunes playlists, genre only. But you can easily juggle them about to make them alphabetical by artist or track or in order of adding.

 

[ziggy47]

Hey, whatever floats your boat......it's definitely a man thing though...lol

My CD collection is A-Z, same artist stuff all together, but no order.......

My DVD collection is genre grouped.........

And I really can't bear to part with anything, even the rubbish..lol......that makes it way into boxes, in the attic.......

Damn I wish I had more self control.........

 

[Gusboll]

Strictly (and obsessively according to my family) alphabetical in 10 Ikea Billy storage units. About 1800 albums and growing so more Billys required and they will need to find a home in the back room. New purchases get to spend a few weeks on the hi-fi rack.

Currently listening to: David Thomas - Monster

 

[basshead]

my albums are in cd wallets, sorted by genre, one for hip hop, dnb, min techno, punk ect. in the wallets are arranged by date.

my dvd's are in two stacks on a shelf, one for films one for series.

for the 2000 individual tracks i have, things get proper complicated:

firstly they are sorted by genre, then by key. they key of each song is obtained by using 'mixedinkey' and double checked on a keyboard. each key is given a code, as in the wheel below:

http://www.harmonic-mixing.com/Images/camelotSmall.jpg

http://www.harmonic-mixing.com/Images/camelotSmall.jpgi then burn disks containing songs of the same genre and key. usually only 4 songs per disk so i can write the song, artist, key and bpm info onto the disk.

the disks are sorted by genre, with each genre having at least 2 wallets, one for minor keys and other for major keys. the disks are placed in key order, ranging from 1a( a flat minor) to 12a(d-flat minor) and from 1b(b-major) to 12b(e major).

these wallets are then stored in bags, in collections of similar bpm, so a bag for 70 bpm (hip hop and dubstep(altho is also half time 140pbm, kinda)) 130 - 150 bpm ( breaks, most house, techno, ect ) and a bag for 170bpm+ ( dnb, hardcore, gabber)

took ages to sort out the music and burn the cd's, but means i can find a suitable song to drop in a mix knowing they will go well together and not clash.

edit: i burn every disk twice too, so i can mix 2 songs from the same cd.

 

[Anonymous]

basshead:

my albums are in cd wallets, sorted by genre, one for hip hop, dnb, min techno, punk ect. in the wallets are arranged by date.

my dvd's are in two stacks on a shelf, one for films one for series.

for the 2000 individual tracks i have, things get proper complicated:

firstly they are sorted by genre, then by key. they key of each song is obtained by using 'mixedinkey' and double checked on a keyboard. each key is given a code, as in the wheel below:

http://www.harmonic-mixing.com/Images/camelotSmall.jpg

http://www.harmonic-mixing.com/Images/camelotSmall.jpgi then burn disks containing songs of the same genre and key. usually only 4 songs per disk so i can write the song, artist, key and bpm info onto the disk.

the disks are sorted by genre, with each genre having at least 2 wallets, one for minor keys and other for major keys. the disks are placed in key order, ranging from 1a( a flat minor) to 12a(d-flat minor) and from 1b(b-major) to 12b(e major).

these wallets are then stored in bags, in collections of similar bpm, so a bag for 70 bpm (hip hop and dubstep(altho is also half time 140pbm, kinda)) 130 - 150 bpm ( breaks, most house, techno, ect ) and a bag for 170bpm+ ( dnb, hardcore, gabber)

took ages to sort out the music and burn the cd's, but means i can find a suitable song to drop in a mix knowing they will go well together and not clash.

edit: i burn every disk twice too, so i can mix 2 songs from the same cd.

Whooooaaa! Now I'm starting to think I'm being a bit reckless and irresponsible with my music

I didn't even know there was such a thing as a 'subset of a micro genre' Nick HomeCinema! Well you live and learn

And Paul Hobbs - Awesomeness is still a form of ordering, although I don't think ITunes does it!

Starting to feel alot more normal now, although my chosen data population demographic may have, ahem..... skewed the results in my favour, ha ha

 

[mitch65]

Big Chris:
Simon Lucas:Alphabetically by artist, and in chronological order of release within artist.

Me too. Surely the only sane method of storage?

Groan.....................me too, i just get strange 'are you out of your freaking mind?' looks from my wife

 

[Anonymous]

mitch65:

i just get strange 'are you out of your freaking mind?' looks from my wife

Mitch65 - that seems perfectly 'normal' around here

 

[Diamond Joe]

I used to store mine neatly A to Z by artist name, I never got around to putting them in chronological order though, BTW, your example of 808 state would have gone at the end after Z.

And now? why they're scattered all over the place: behind the sofa, next to the telly, in the kitchen, in the car, under my bed, on shelves, vaguely near the hifi on occasion, in fact there are some out of their boxes on top of my CDP as I type, God knows where the boxes are!

I do tidy them up occasionally, honest guv!

 

[gwynne61]

Big Chris:
Simon Lucas:Alphabetically by artist, and in chronological order of release within artist.

Me too. Surely the only sane method of storage?

Me three

 

[Vimeous]

Alphabetically by Artist and that's enough for me, if I need to know dates I'll look at the box!

The's go under 'T' in my system. Artists choose to put it there so I respect their naming conventions - who am I to argue after all?

Various, Classical and Singles share their own mini rack each ordered separately.

The numerous CD's that are currently on-the-loose in the car autochanger or disc caddy for work have their cases piled separately. New stuff tends to be in this lot and is eventually added to the main collection once I've ripped FLAC and MP3 versions (I'd do WAV's if I had the storage).

DVD's and Blurays are alphabetical and split between his/hers feature films in 2 cabinets with TV/multi-film boxed sets in a third. Ornamental boxes get their very own bookshelf space though that isn't my preferred choice!
Oh and hundreds of VHS tapes are stored in multiple 84l stackable plastic containers in the garage .....

 

[betamale]

As with most of you, I store in Alphabetical order of artist, all new cd's stay in a separate section until transferred onto NAS and logged in an excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is only for reference and comes in handy on my record shop visits where I can refer to it on my 'phone if I am in doubt whether I have an album or not ( The spreadsheet is on my NAS which I can remote access)

One of my mates thinks I am a sad ****er but he has 800 less cd's than me to keep track of.