Impossibly Large Music Collections

Music
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Organically, I’m identifying the following patterns - this is just an initial take, and will require refinement, of course! I would love input!

Type I: People who collect only the music they like, and discover new items through browsing (radio, song samples, reading, streaming services, etc.) They may discover deep tracks in their collections through random play and “Discover” features as well.

Type II: People who collect not only the music they like, but also other non-vetted music “on the if come,” to play on random or have on hand for the future.

Type III: People who collect not only the music they like, but also other non-vetted music just to browse and have because they simply like to collect and browse.

Type IV: People who just collect music, whether they like or not, simply because they like to collect and browse.

Again, this probably isn’t perfect just yet, but it’s what I am feeling after reading all the above. How might others offer additional insight?

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82

Close enough for me, Type I bordering on II, but only due to some “completist OCD”.
Meaning, i like a few albums by Neil Young but might still keep (and occasionally listen to) some of his work which i wouldn’t buy out of context…

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For me there are several factors in play. I have a pretty big digital collection but not massive by some standards. 9,000+ albums or 115,000+ tracks according to Roon. Somewhere around 8-10TBs. In no particular order here are the reasons I feel for my obsession.

I remember a day when I was young and poor and had to agonize over which single LP to buy with my meager savings. Typically I got Greatest Hits LPs, like Made in the Shade by The Rolling Stones. Then always regretted not having the complete album. When funds allowed as I bought the original albums and always swore once I could I would always buy the full album.

I’m a bit of a completest. If I like a band I want all their stuff even if I don’t really care for some avenues they have explored. I think this stems from days of going to someone’s house that had a huge display of LPs and being wowed. I love the days past, of looking through others LP or CD collection. “Oh if you like this you gotta hear these guys”…and the like.

I’ve bought and rebought albums, some several times. Sold LPs to fund the latest craze of CDs, Sold CDs to fund other CDs and regretted it. Car broken into and radio + large CD collection stolen…in the days before CD burners for travel copies. Digital + multiple backups hopefully solves that.

I have always been the guy with travel tunes for the train, beach, vacation house, etc. and the same when people come to my house. I like to have something on hand for everyone even if I don’t care for it.

I live in the middle of nowhere with limited internet and data caps, so no streaming of any kind.

I’ve discovered Swap a CD and Music Boomerang that are CD swap sites. Literally pennies for CDs so I collect them and rip them to my NAS and throw the CDs in a plastic bin. Various artists CDs are a great way to find unknown to me bands. This recently happened to me with Pell Mell. How in the world did they escape my orbit back in the day?

I’ve got some rare stuff that is not available on streaming sites even if I could stream.

I’m no longer poor but remember those days, so I tend not to get rid of ANYTHING. Yes I have some Dolly Parton that I’ll never listen to, but maybe just maybe I will find it by Roon Radio and like it, or someone will come over that wants to hear it and we can’t “stream” it. Side note - I’ve had multiple people come to the house 5-10 years ago and when I did not have something “I just had to hear” I was forced to listen to it at full blast on their phone. YUCK!

I have a tablet loaded up with Roon and people love hanging out while my wife and I are cooking and play DJ.

EDIT: Forgot to add that l like to have multiple versions of albums I like or that are particularly well recorded/mastered. I’m a sucker for MoFi, 1/2 speed masters, remasters from original tape, SACD remasters, etc.

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84

There was a couple of brilliant second had vinyl stores in markets when I was young. One in oasys (I think it was called) in Birmingham which also had great clothes stalls and one in Stafford. As punk was out going out of fashion in the early 80s I got a fair amount on my meagre wages.

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So funny! I have definitely been in a couple of situations like that, and if I like what’s playing, I just stop the situation, buy it, and then play it from my own system!

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86

If it were possible for me I’d buy it even if I don’t like it to make the full blast phone speaker go away and play it on a “real” system…yes we are all music snobs to some degree. My wife and I often discuss if it is the music or the sound we like best. She is firmly in the music camp. As long as her toes are tapping. I’m back and forth. I want it to be the music, but when I know there is a better play back device I just have to make the jump.

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87

What a great bookend to this thread, just published by Pitchfork last week:

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88

Fantastic, thanks for posting.

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89

Thanks for this. As the article states, we certainly are a diverse lot as well. I don’t share files and only keep what I rip from purchased CDs or download purchases acquired legitimately. If I get rid of a physical CD, I find that I end up deleting the files from the HDD because I end up not wanting to play it. Why clog up my library?

I used to download albums of low bitrate mp3s to see if I liked an album, but streaming now has replaced my Avenue for discovery. I still have a few of those albums in my library, but it is because they are of specific remasters that are no longer attainable and won’t remove them until I find physical copies to purchase (RCA Bowie albums, for example).

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90

So does anyone EVER say that their digital music collection contains albums NOT ripped from a CD that they own or NOT purchased legally, other than bootlegs? It’s so easy to be pure of heart when on an internet forum. Remember that no one ever admits to rubbernecking while driving or needing to use Viagra.

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91

Too funny, I was just thinking of how anytime there is a whiff of copying or trading, everyone gets on their high horse about “the artists”.

Remember that mix tape you made for you girlified in 9th grade? Well she does not own every single physical album you made that from. So both you and she needs to go to jail. Nobody in the history of music forums has ever checked out a library copy of an LP, CD, DVD, Books on tape, etc. and made a copy.

No, I just can’t live with myself keeping that burnt CD copy for the car of some obscure local band I picked up at the show, now that I lost the real version in my last 10 moves. It just wouldn’t be right. Does not matter that you can actually buy it today. To the trash bin with that copy.

As for that crappy thumb drive of mp3s from a band you never heard of. That you received because your co-worker thought you shared the same interest…then you went out an bought 3 other CDs from the SAME band because you did in fact like them. Shame on you for the one you didn’t buy.

My personal 50+ years on the planet has shown me that the person yelling the loudest about how “good” they are about a certain social aspect, are many times the worst.

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92

I don’t care how many tracks or albums someone has in a music collection as long as they are all legal. If you sell or give away the LP, CD, or tape, then delete the files. I have 42 tracks and they are all legal.

You can always make excuses for violating copyright laws and cheating on your taxes. That’s a measure of your character.

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Hopefully this thread doesn’t turn into one of those threads about the sanctity of legitimate files. We all know the drill. But I do think that article was interesting to show the diversity of digital files collectors, as many of us were into the sharing/trading aspect, but many of us weren’t. I am certainly not worried about defending my files and whether or not they should reside on my drives. If the file police came into my home and looked at the room that houses my physical collection, they would likely realize they were barking up the wrong righteous tree.

I totally remember the blank tape era! I was one who couldn’t afford to buy the originals and tapes most of it as a teen. My best friend was the opposite and ONLY wanted the originals…. We all just see this in different ways, which is really cool.

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94

Be careful that Apple, Tidal, or Qobuz don’t inadvertently bring offline content from your many subscriptions to your hard drive without you having purchased the CD, LP, or tape to stream at the same time. In any case, defense is possible, since you can’t check all directories for such common actions. The world has changed and pirated copies are no longer traded as described in the article. Unfortunately, this means you have more music on your personal hard drive than you suspect. Unless you only stream the two CDs you physically have. Metallica have granted themselves against Napster, but we have different times today!

Market research shows that free wine tasting always leads to the best sales. Give something away and you’ll get it sold or streamed multiple times. Then, in addition to the high expenses for music, there is also a lot left over for the tax.

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Again, I have no idea what you are saying. I stream from Tidal, Qobuz, and Apple Music. I don’t have any downloads from either of them. My 42 tracks consist of a Qobuz Sample album Qobuz gave me, an LP my brother and I made, an LP my brother made with his trio, and 4 tracks I purchased from iTunes.

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Sampling via streaming before purchase is a blessing. I am so happy it moved to the streaming model in that regard. Before streaming, it was so much more difficult to find out if you liked an album enough to purchase it. I undoubtedly have a few albums that are still placeholders until I purchase.

Which makes me curious how often and in what way we go through our large collections and weed them. And I wonder if @Uwe_Albrecht Does this at all since his collection is so momentoudly large! :blush:

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@TuliaNonTroppo Daily love and diligence in the collection and about every 5-10 years fundamental rebuild with the best tools.

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If we knew your music, we will stream it first and buy it if we like it. It will be in most cases no longer a CD, but the download at Qobuz, Bandcamp, Amazon & Co.

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Nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t burn it to a CD to give to someone. I think we all know what is legal vs what is not.

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Jim_F today, no one burns CDs themselves anymore, but listens to them offline at the services. Even personal collecting is largely over. Old habits are being cut off and the dinos are dying out.