How do you organize your physical music collection?

Zen · 10-12-2009, 11:01 AM

autobiographically. -_-

on itunes they are sorted, very fussily, into artists alphabetically, but any random songs/various albums I sort to the letters ZZZZZZZZZ so that it doesn't look messy and they go at the bottom out of the way.......god.

storymilo · 10-12-2009, 11:23 AM

I go alphabetically. But I just listen to my music in my itunes. My CDs are mostly alphabetical, but I also have a lot just stacked in no order.

dollarsandcents · 10-12-2009, 11:31 AM

Colour of CD spine, ordered to create a colour spectrum effect.

LoathsomePete · 10-12-2009, 11:42 AM

Like this:

I take great pride in keeping my music organized.

sidewinder · 10-12-2009, 12:45 PM

It's funny how at the beginning of the thread, we're talking about CDs and then it mutates into talking about digital files.

When I first started buying CDs, I kept them alphabetized by artist. When I got to around 100, I got tired of shifting everything around every time I bought a new CD...especially if it was early in the alphabet. At the time, I had a CD rack with slots so I wasn't able to just slide everything over...I had to move each one individually. PITA. So since then I've organized by genre. I group artists and order them chronologically within the artist group. This used to be easier...but over the past decade or so has gotten more confusing for two reasons: 1) I've run out of room and my CD book case is doubled-up...Every shelf has nearly 2 full rows in front of 2 back rows; 2) there is much more genre cross-pollination than there used to be, and I struggle to classify things. It's honestly been kind of a big mess for the past 5 years, but without buying an extra bookcase, it's pointless trying to fix it. And when I get new CDs, they get ripped to my computer right away anyway. It's only a pain when I want to hear an oldie that happens to not be on my computer, and I have to dig it out of the mess. I usually have a good idea of approximately where it is, but often have to dig it out from behind others.

Zen · 10-12-2009, 01:24 PM

Should always have solid gaps to make shifting easy, and when you borrow stuff(well not really in modern age), you could slot it back in rather easily. I've always had shelves over CD racks for that purpose really.

Arya Stark · 10-12-2009, 01:41 PM

Artist, then album.

And I can't stand lowercase where it isn't supposed to be. xD

sidewinder · 10-12-2009, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zen

Should always have solid gaps to make shifting easy, and when you borrow stuff(well not really in modern age), you could slot it back in rather easily. I've always had shelves over CD racks for that purpose really.

Yeah I switched to shelves a long time ago...and leaving slots would have been helpful to keep things organized alphabetically. But too late now...and no room for slots!

sidewinder · 10-12-2009, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AwwSugar

And I can't stand lowercase where it isn't supposed to be. xD

Speaking digital I assume. I completely agree. In fact it pisses me off when my properly tagged stuff scrobbles to last.fm as all lowercase because of the idiots that first scrobbled it.

Arya Stark · 10-12-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sidewinder

Speaking digital I assume. I completely agree. In fact it pisses me off when my properly tagged stuff scrobbles to last.fm as all lowercase because of the idiots that first scrobbled it.

Exactly. I don't mind Last.fm as much, though, since I skip so many of those songs. They recommend some of the worst music to me. It's because of the fact that one band will have ten genres. And then I'll get recommended ten more bands with ten other genres. It's really a mess.

With the music I physically own, I have it in Japanese order.

By that I mean, you read it backwards instead of forwards. It makes more sense to me when I'm looking for something, I don't know why.

View Poll Results: How do you organize your music?
Alphabetically	57	55.34%
Genre	15	14.56%
Other (elaborate in post)	31	30.10%
Voters: 103. You may not vote on this poll

10-12-2009, 11:31 AM	#83 (permalink)
dollarsandcents more tea vicar? Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: England Posts: 193	Colour of CD spine, ordered to create a colour spectrum effect. __________________ My Blog: You And Whose Army?

10-12-2009, 11:42 AM	#84 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	Like this: I take great pride in keeping my music organized. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

10-12-2009, 12:45 PM	#85 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	It's funny how at the beginning of the thread, we're talking about CDs and then it mutates into talking about digital files. When I first started buying CDs, I kept them alphabetized by artist. When I got to around 100, I got tired of shifting everything around every time I bought a new CD...especially if it was early in the alphabet. At the time, I had a CD rack with slots so I wasn't able to just slide everything over...I had to move each one individually. PITA. So since then I've organized by genre. I group artists and order them chronologically within the artist group. This used to be easier...but over the past decade or so has gotten more confusing for two reasons: 1) I've run out of room and my CD book case is doubled-up...Every shelf has nearly 2 full rows in front of 2 back rows; 2) there is much more genre cross-pollination than there used to be, and I struggle to classify things. It's honestly been kind of a big mess for the past 5 years, but without buying an extra bookcase, it's pointless trying to fix it. And when I get new CDs, they get ripped to my computer right away anyway. It's only a pain when I want to hear an oldie that happens to not be on my computer, and I have to dig it out of the mess. I usually have a good idea of approximately where it is, but often have to dig it out from behind others. __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.

10-12-2009, 11:01 AM	#81 (permalink)
Zen Music Addict Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Chester, England Posts: 63	autobiographically. -_- on itunes they are sorted, very fussily, into artists alphabetically, but any random songs/various albums I sort to the letters ZZZZZZZZZ so that it doesn't look messy and they go at the bottom out of the way.......god.

10-12-2009, 11:23 AM	#82 (permalink)
storymilo Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,845	I go alphabetically. But I just listen to my music in my itunes. My CDs are mostly alphabetical, but I also have a lot just stacked in no order.

10-12-2009, 01:24 PM	#86 (permalink)
Zen Music Addict Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Chester, England Posts: 63	Should always have solid gaps to make shifting easy, and when you borrow stuff(well not really in modern age), you could slot it back in rather easily. I've always had shelves over CD racks for that purpose really.