How to Organize CD Collection? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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Barbu

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Posted: August 28 2011 at 12:37

Artist/Unalphabetical/Unchronological.

VanderGraafKommandöh View Drop Down

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Posted: August 28 2011 at 02:34

I order mine by Genre, then Alphabetical Artist/Band order, then Chronological by Album release order. I also usually put Live releases after Studio releases.

This way, I can leave gaps at the end of my genres for slotting in new ones. It means less CDs to swap in and out too.

Alphabetical by artist is a bitch, unless you leave gaps at the end of each letter.

Of course, due to lack of CD racks, I've had to resort to the table/floor/top of the television/car/bookshelf/the box they came in method as well.

Pekka

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Posted: August 28 2011 at 01:40

EchidnasArf wrote:

Autobiographical.

Some time perhaps next year we're going to have to get a new custom made shelf for the expanding collection, similar to the two we have now. We got the shelves housing about 1800 cds some four years ago and thought they'd be all we'd ever need, but oh how wrong we were. The dvd section has been packed for years, though, so every time we buy something new we have to decide what old to put away to the closet.

Edited by Pekka - August 28 2011 at 01:45

It's on PA!

npjnpj

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Posted: August 28 2011 at 00:53

I use a number of those man-high, narrow Ikea Billy bookcases with adjustable height individual shelves standing flush next to each other, so they look like one single shelving unit. The height of each shelfspace is just about 1/2 inch more than the height of the CD cases themselves.

The albums are kept aligned to the left of each space, with each individual shelf unit having leaving enough space to the right to accommodate any additions (about 1/3 and shrinking).

Now and again I have to add a new case but even then the work involved is kept to a minimum, if I work out beforehand how many CDs on each shelf I have to move so that the whole thing doesn't start to look too out of whack.

I keep the CDs sorted alphabetically by artist in the following way:

A E I
B F J
C G K
D H L etc.

Catcher10

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Posted: August 28 2011 at 00:19

Mine are in order of best to worst

jammun

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Posted: August 28 2011 at 00:13

I used to organize mine by artist. Seemed sensical. Now I order them by color.

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CPicard

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 15:42

I have four racks to store myc CD's: three little vertical ones, and another one inside a TV fourniture. Some of my records are still in my parents' house, but it's just a "sample" of my collection.

I use the cotation of media libraries to organize my collection. Classical music is registered under the cote 1; Jazz music is 2; Rock music is 3, etc...
Then, there are subdivivisions: traditional jazz, swing, New Orleans style is 1.1.; Free Jazz is 1.5; Heavy-metal is 3.5, for example.
Only after this categorization by genres and styles, I organize my records strictly by the alphabetical order: Black Sabbath is at "B", Dio is at "D", King Crimson is at "K", Robert Fripp is at "F", etc.
Then, the year of release is the last parameter of organisation: a compilation released in 1985 is ranged after any other record released in 1984, even if it includes material recorded between 1980 and 1982. Same thing for a live album: if the live album had been recorded in 1973 but released in 1977, it's ranged after a studio album released in 1976.

That's my way.

darkshade

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 14:23

I have them in various places, most of them are stacked on a dresser with shelves. Thing is, I rarely play the actual CDs, as generally all my music playing is done through the computer or my iPod. However, Ive had either a hard drive crash or my old iPod stolen, so it's the reason I still buy physical copies; you never know....

My Last.fm

Nightfly

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 14:22

In alphabetical order regardless of genre. New ones have their own little space and about once a year I'll sort them out and add in the newer ones into the main collection.

Pekka

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 14:14

The about 1700 CDs are in an alphabetical order by artist, and each artist's discography is in a chronological order. That's worked fine for me for a long time, but just today I've given serious thought to introducing divisions by style.

I've got about 50 LPs, they are in a very random order.

It's on PA!

zappaholic View Drop Down

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 14:07

I invested in a couple of cabinets with roll-out drawers. They were kinda pricey but well worth it. And I store alphabetically by artist, chronologically for each artist.

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EchidnasArf View Drop Down

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 13:54

Autobiographical.

Did You See Those Bats? (a few songs from my band's live radio show)

ClemofNazareth View Drop Down

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 13:29

I rip all mine to a portable hard drive. That way I have a backup if the CD is damaged/lost, and I don't spend time digging around trying to find the physical copy when I want to listen to it. After that it comes down to the SWAOS method (Shelf With An Open Slot).

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Albert Camus

akamaisondufromage View Drop Down

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 12:56

Now I haven't got enough shelf space for my CDs I have developed the 'Random Scattering Around the House and in the Car' technique. However, for some reason I can never find what I want to listen to.

What also causes a problem is this idea of not actually putting the name of artist album etc on the CD itself. And the numerous types and sizes of boxes which means you can never put them where you want them to go.

Edited by akamaisondufromage - August 27 2011 at 12:57

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GentleGiant View Drop Down

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 12:33

Artists in alphabetical order, is still working for over 4000 CDs

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Vompatti

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 12:18

I aim at placing the artists I somehow associate with each other next to one another.

Stooge

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 12:13

CCVP wrote:

I don't have a particular oganization method. Wherever there's space to store CDs, I'll put the newest one there.

That's my "method" too. LOL

I usually try to group stuff by artist, but I don't have the space to spread it out all orderly at the moment. Also, I usually have a bundle of newest releases together, and often wait a while before I squeeze them into an appropriate spot.

A fun place to review and discuss metal: MetalMusicArchives

Abstrakt

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Posted: August 27 2011 at 10:52

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yeah, that IS a solution, but i'm not sure if i really like it... I put my recent purchases in a pile next to the CD player and then store them when i've played them 3-5 times