In Search Of: Storage Ideas for CDs

[splinter]

That would be incredibly unjust to the artist, who would only see royalties from the singular sale.

Yes, but also quite theoretical. The German law tries to find the balance between proper compensation (you need a legitimate original copy in the first place) and realistic consumer care (if three people live under one roof, they do not have to buy three copies of an album), and supports company investment in copy protection (which has mostly vanished for audio CDs - but makes it generally illegal to make copies of DVDs and BDs, because they are almost all copy protected). In addition, there is a fee on all copying devices (like PCs, CD/DVD-/BD-RW drives) which is the distributed among artists, so that they get some compensation for copied albums (although I think it is quite neglectable).

Sorry for highjacking this post, if we want to continue on the legal discussions we should probably open our own thread...

 

[MidiMagic]

Doesn't matter since they do not need to be accessible.
What if I trashed them?

Your permission to have the copies is contingent on being able to show the original as proof that you had the use license.

 

[MidiMagic]

I am trying to use a bookshelf format with the albums ordered as follows:
The following sections are used:
- Single artist popular CDs sorted by artist name, and by release date within a single artist.
- Multiple artist CDs are sorted by release date.
- Classical CDs are sorted by composer, and by release date
- Religious CDs are sorted by artist and release date
- Christmas albums are sorted by artist and release date
- Special section for surround sound, divided into categories as above
- Special section for "autoplay" medleys (e.g. "Hooked on Classics"), divided into categories as above
Records are divided by record size and speed, and then divided into categories as above
- An additional category for records is 12-inch singles

 

[splinter]

I built two wall-high shelves myself 20 and 10 years ago, custom-fit for the size of CDs in both distance of the boards and depth of the whole shelf - a very unelegant build made only from wooden boards screwed together, because I lack the carpenting skills. I am in dire need of building a third one or finding a different solution for the whole collection, but even in this thread saw nothing really satisfying which also fits the available space (which is basically none, and absolutely none if I ask my wife).

with the albums ordered as follows:

This is one thing to consider, because I cannot imagine how you sort and find things in boxed solutions. I use the same common "by artist and then by release date" sorting, with the collection divided in four genre sections: Rock/Pop, Jazz, Classical, and Soundtracks. Rock/Pop is by far the biggest part, and once a couple of new albums have arrived, I sort them in by pushing everything else alphabetically behind them forward. Quite annoying to do it shelf by shelf with 50+ CDs each, especially when new arrivals come in early alphabet letters and all subsequent rows need to be adjusted... As a "temporary" solution (since about 5 years...) I also have some Ikea Billy CD shelves which hold more like 15 CDs per row - even more push work.

The boxes each hold 90 discs

How do you sort, organize and find anything there? Or is it more for semi-permanent storage while listening to ripped files? A friend of mine uses similar boxes and stores without jewel cases to save even more space, but he almost never takes the CDs out.

 

[madscot]

Plain and simple alphabetical order for me, no genres, nada nothing. Only difference is cd’s only on one set of shelves and dvd’s/blu ray on other shelves but still alphabetical

 

[par4ken]

- Single artist popular CDs sorted by artist name, and by release date within a single artist.

I sort them in by pushing everything else alphabetically behind them forward.

You both are true collectors. I doubt that many people bother to sort their collection, that is a lot of work. Obviously if you don't it would be difficult to find anything!

I initially sort in alphabetical order but ignore release date. As time goes on the sorting becomes more like having the A's together then the B's ect. A compromise between exact order and chaos. I do this for LPs and for CDs. My few quad encoded CDs are kept together, separate from the rest. My quad LPs are filed with the stereo ones.

I insist on sorting property, The Beatles would be under B not T! Solo artists are filed under their last name not their first. Alice Cooper (the band) would be under A, so as not to upset order I would (make an exception) and file his solo work in the same place, not under C. Alice isn't his real name anyway!

I try to leave a bit of space on the shelves for adding new discs. As has been stated it is a real pain to shuffle everything over.

My DVD-A are placed on the shelf together unsorted. The same for my SACDs. The same for Blu-rays. The 7" Sony SACD are placed together unsorted. Same goes for quad reel tapes. My collection of all of those is not yet large enough to require alphabetical sorting.

 

[hi-res_edition]

My only comment to CD storage / shelving is one size does not fit all.

 

[splinter]

You both are true collectors. I doubt that many people bother to sort their collection

[goes on about elaborate sortings]

I only sort stuff separately that does not fit in the CD rows, no matter if they are boxes, DVD-As or Sony 7".

My collection of all of those is not yet large enough to require alphabetical sorting.

Alphabetical sorting is possible and absolutely required as soon as there is more than one item

 

[Wagonmaster_91]

If you simply rip all your media to hard drives (and back those up), then you can get rid of all the physical product and then you have the recordings forever.
Unless....
https://www.mixonline.com/business/inside-iron-mountain-its-time-to-talk-about-hard-drives

uh-oh.

 

[par4ken]

If you simply rip all your media to hard drives (and back those up), then you can get rid of all the physical product and then you have the recordings forever.
Unless....
https://www.mixonline.com/business/inside-iron-mountain-its-time-to-talk-about-hard-drives

uh-oh.

Sorry in advance that we are drifting so far off topic. Yes, hard drives don't last forever so you should have multiple file backups.

Getting rid of the physical product while saving the backups might be considered a grey area. On the one hand you did pay for the physical disc originally. However the record companies would balk at receiving no money from the resale or giveaway. I read somewhere that record companies tried to stop the sale of used records and tapes (and CDs). Boo hoo, I don't think that any jurisdiction actually have copyright police coming into people's homes searching people's hard drives for unauthorised music files.

It is understandable why the industry would want to switch to a steaming model. I'm just thankful that we can still get physical discs!

 

[esimms86]

Plain and simple alphabetical order for me, no genres, nada nothing. Only difference is cd’s only on one set of shelves and dvd’s/blu ray on other shelves but still alphabetical
View attachment 109130

View attachment 109131

Was that last picture meant for @JohnN?

 

[shokhead]

 

[splinter]

Yes, hard drives don't last forever so you should have multiple file backups.

I wonder who got the idea to 1) only make one archive copy of digital data, 2) use hard drives for archiving, which are susceptible of mechanical, electrical and magnetic failure. Using simple DVD-R/BD-R would probably guarantee a longer lifetime, and I thought there are even more reliable formats for archiving purposes.

I read somewhere that record companies tried to stop the sale of used records and tapes (and CDs)

They tried to stop the introduction of MCs for self recording in the first place, and that is where the beforementioned German fee for copying devices (and storage media btw.) came from.

Considering that one third to half of my collection is bought second hand, I guess I am not a very good supporter of artists and record labels...

I'm just thankful that we can still get physical discs

Amen to that, and I hope I do not live to the day where that is not the case anymore. My kids can throw everything to the bin then, including my self-built shelves (to get back on topic ).

 

[shokhead]

View attachment 109143I got this from a school district sell off old junk for $25 bucks. Mine has 3 drawers and had it refinished. I can fit about 150 CDs in each drawer. School districts warehouse sell off old stuff all the time.

 

[encircle sound]

You both are true collectors. I doubt that many people bother to sort their collection, that is a lot of work. Obviously if you don't it would be difficult to find anything!

I initially sort in alphabetical order but ignore release date. As time goes on the sorting becomes more like having the A's together then the B's ect. A compromise between exact order and chaos. I do this for LPs and for CDs. My few quad encoded CDs are kept together, separate from the rest. My quad LPs are filed with the stereo ones.

I insist on sorting property, The Beatles would be under B not T! Solo artists are filed under their last name not their first. Alice Cooper (the band) would be under A, so as not to upset order I would (make an exception) and file his solo work in the same place, not under C. Alice isn't his real name anyway!

I try to leave a bit of space on the shelves for adding new discs. As has been stated it is a real pain to shuffle everything over.

My DVD-A are placed on the shelf together unsorted. The same for my SACDs. The same for Blu-rays. The 7" Sony SACD are placed together unsorted. Same goes for quad reel tapes. My collection of all of those is not yet large enough to require alphabetical sorting.

In your sorting, would 'The Michael Stanley Band' be filed under M or S and 'Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' be filed under T or P?

 

[Rstaylor]

Sorry in advance that we are drifting so far off topic. Yes, hard drives don't last forever so you should have multiple file backups.

Getting rid of the physical product while saving the backups might be considered a grey area. On the one hand you did pay for the physical disc originally. However the record companies would balk at receiving no money from the resale or giveaway. I read somewhere that record companies tried to stop the sale of used records and tapes (and CDs). Boo hoo, I don't think that any jurisdiction actually have copyright police coming into people's homes searching people's hard drives for unauthorised music files.

It is understandable why the industry would want to switch to a steaming model. I'm just thankful that we can still get physical discs!

I remember many years ago, Garth Brooks and Paul Anka both wanted to stop the sale of used cd's unless they were able to be compensated for the lost royalties.
I honestly can't remember ever seeing any used Paul Anka cd's, and I mean EVER...

 

[ssully]

I rip everything, toss the jewel cases (where possible), put the disc in a sleeve, and then in small CD-sized storage boxes that hold 100(maybe more? I forget) sleeved discs. Sorting is by artist and title and I labelled the boxes A-D, E-H, etc. Album art goes in another set of the same size boxes.

 

[par4ken]

In your sorting, would 'The Michael Stanley Band' be filed under M or S and 'Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' be filed under T or P?

S and P. Where the band name includes the band leader I would file the same as a solo artist. Jeff Beck and Jeff Beck Group are filed under B. You should always sort by last name not first, just like in a telephone book, if we still had those!

 

[splinter]

Jeff Beck and Jeff Beck Group are filed under B.

But mixed together or first him and then the group?

 

[par4ken]

But mixed together or first him and then the group?

Mixed together. I'm not that anal to put everything in perfect order just the main artist/associated group all thrown together!