Organizing your Media!

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
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Calgary, AB
For the most part, this seems to me to be a fairly straightforward task, although everyone has their own methodology. Here's how I do it:

Blu-rays & DVD:
Done by title, with the exception of Concerts. I keep those seperate and apart from my main collection, and I organize them by Artist.

CD & Vinyl:
Done by Artist, but for 4 categories.
1. Regular CD/Vinyl
2. Audiophile CD/Vinyl
3. Boxsets CD/Vinyl
4. Classical CD/Vinyl.

So far, so good right? It would appear so, with one exception however. My Classical media is not organized at all as I can't find a proper method to use. I only have about 50 or so classical recordings, and have been lumping them together in one group without any regard to order.

Here's my question therefore, and my main reason for starting this thread. For those of you with a considerable Classical collection, what method do you employ regarding organization?
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
51
38
Calgary, AB
By composer
Within composer by size: solo, duo, trio etc.

That's kind of my thought as well, but what do you do when you have a disc with selections from let's say 2 composers? This is where I can't decide what to do.
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
51
38
Calgary, AB
Like I said, I don't have that many, so I think doing it by Composer would probably work for most of them. In regards to any others....I'll just put them at the end. Simple enough I guess.
 

flez007

Member Sponsor
Aug 31, 2010
2,915
36
435
Mexico City
Mine is a very dynamic one, one row per genre... The more it is played gets the right side corner.
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
5,599
225
1,190
Seattle, WA
www.genesisloudspeakers.com
For classical, sort by composer. I used to have 12x12 pieces of cardboard, and when an album had two composers, I'd make a second one, and reference back to the first composer..... however, now that I'm digitizing everything and putting all my music on a server, it's far easier. I can then sort by composer, artist (if there is a soloist), performer (for orchestra) and conductor.
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
1,725
New York City
I use a mixed approach :)

Mercury Living Presence and RCA Living Stereo classical LPs are arranged by release number. Other classical labels (Harmonia Mundi, Decca, Argo, EMI, L'Oiseau Lyre, Erato, London, etc arranged by composer. Jazz is also arranged by artist. Rock is arranged by group/singer but they're in particular order. That only works since rock is a smaller pct of my total collection, that estimate is now around 10K or so. CDs, that are a smaller component, just basically arranged by label in no particular order. (they are not played too often.) Tapes, all 70 or 80 of them are arranged only by genre. Right now am using four large specially built bookcases (really solidly built with thick shelves ergo no drooping shelves) by MDC furniture in New York to house the music collection.
 

Jay_S

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
309
5
16
San Francisco - East Bay
My LPs are sorted by genre, and composer or performer, similar to what others are reporting. My CDs are completely unsorted as I don't have the time or the need to put the physical discs in order. Everything is ripped to a server and I let the software take care of all the work.
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
I try to sort everything in alphabetical order. For my LPs, I bought a set of dividers like you used to see in record stores that go from A-Z.
 

Old Listener

New Member
Jul 18, 2010
371
0
0
SF Bay area
naturelover.smugmug.com
By composer
Within composer by size: solo, duo, trio etc.

That is the way I did it too. If a CD has mixed content, I store it based on one of the works on the CD.

My music collection has been on a hard drive for 5 years now as Flac files tagged they way I want them. No more problems with mixed content CDs or works split across two CDs. I can browse by

Genre -> Composer ->Work Name -> Artist (and use Sub_genre and Version if I want to)

or

Artist->Composer->Work name

or

Singer->Song Name

or a dozen other ways.

You can debate whether PC audio sounds better but I don't think you can deny the greatly improved functionality it provides.

Bill
 

Recordsguy

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2015
305
41
258
Nice post, now let's see-I put all Motown together-Aretha has her own space, the Chicago folks stay together[Chi-Lites - Gene Chandler-Jerry Butler-The Impressions-Walter Jackson] the oldies have a spot as do the various other artist.
 

Andrew Stenhouse

New Member
Feb 14, 2016
171
1
0
Sydney, Australia
Classical LPs - Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th C; thereafter by composer, thereafter by conductor, thereafter by performer. Alphabetical. Well that is the theory anyway.

Jazz LP's - Performer, thereafter alphabetical - I listen to a fairly narrow range of jazz from the 1940's to the 1960's (early), so know what I will find there. I have a separate section for female vocal: Nancy Wilson, Ella, Doris Day, Julie London, Melody Gardot, Ane Brun, Stacey Kent etc.

I am having some pull out LP storage drawers made at the moment that should hold around 600 or so records. I think, this time around, that if I aim to collect 400 or 500 LPs that I adore and regularly play that I will be better served than having thousands that I never look at, let alone play, as I have had in the past.

Speaking of which, I have about 450 mainly classical that I need to go through shortly and cull. Just waiting for the heat to retreat, so I may do so at my storage facility rather in the apartment. One thing about living in an apartment - it focuses the mind of whether you can really be bothered lugging 100 or so records up the stairs ;)
 

Phelonious Ponk

New Member
Jun 30, 2010
8,677
23
0
For the most part, this seems to me to be a fairly straightforward task, although everyone has their own methodology. Here's how I do it:

Blu-rays & DVD:
Done by title, with the exception of Concerts. I keep those seperate and apart from my main collection, and I organize them by Artist.

CD & Vinyl:
Done by Artist, but for 4 categories.
1. Regular CD/Vinyl
2. Audiophile CD/Vinyl
3. Boxsets CD/Vinyl
4. Classical CD/Vinyl.

So far, so good right? It would appear so, with one exception however. My Classical media is not organized at all as I can't find a proper method to use. I only have about 50 or so classical recordings, and have been lumping them together in one group without any regard to order.

Here's my question therefore, and my main reason for starting this thread. For those of you with a considerable Classical collection, what method do you employ regarding organization?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQvOnDlql5g

Unfortunately iTunes won't sort this creatively :). I typically sort Genre/Artist/Album, but if I want to sort by song instead, change Artist to Composer or re-order the priority another way, that's just a couple of clicks away.

Tim
 

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