Categorising physical music collections

[sal paradise]

Do you categorise your music collections in different ways? Keen to get some tips/ideas

I spent the last couple of hours reorganising my vinyl into a loose genres to make it easier to pick based on mood. Pretty happy with this to reduce cognitive load & to better notice lesser-played albums. I did have to make some painful choices with category overlap. But it’s ok. I think (Will update if I loose sleep over mis-categorisation.)

I try to maintain a vinyl collection of around 400. Once it goes over I start culling. So it’s pretty manageable, although I feel the vintage section needs work as that’s twice the size of the others.

My new groupings:
- indie/alt
- 90s
- punk/hardcore
- jazz/soul
- country/folk
- 50s/60s/70s/80s rock/folk/singer-songwriter
- compilations/soundtracks

[JSett]

I have mine in genre then alphabetical order, then chronologically for that artist. My sections include:

Skate punk
Hardcore
Proper Emo (pre-2000)
Modern (post-2000) UK/commonwealth emo
Modern (post-2000) US/other emo
Stoner/doom
Metal
Riot Grrrl
Noise Rock
Grunge
Hip-hop
Alt-rock
Post/math rock
Folk
Jazz
Pop
Disco
Other

[sal paradise]

I have mine in genre then alphabetical order, then chronologically for that artist.

I forgot to mention chronology. I’m not a monster. I used to separate out my punk collection then I sold most of it, only got about 50 left so alphabetical is easy.

After seeing your list, just realised my lack of listening diversity is plain to see

[zhivago]

I am just plain old alphabetical...

I don't have as many records as some of my friends do though...I probably have just under 250 albums.

[sal paradise]

I am just plain old alphabetical...

Can’t knock a simple & solid approach. For a long time I only separated out non-mainstream punk stuff as my ex didn’t like it. I had a “things to listen to when no one is home” section

[Soggy Donkey]

I'm not sure why, but I kinda abandoned genre sections a while ago. I totally get the reason for them -- I too often want to listen to a genre before I start thinking of the particular band I'm in the mood to hear. But for some reason I felt better reverting back to a big ol' mix in alphabetical order. And what happens to me is that I often (a) spend more time pawing through the shelves and (b) end up listening to something unexpected.

I will come clean and admit that I do have two "genre" shelves -- one is clawhammer banjo records and the other is records that seem ripe for sampling. But that's just a convenience thing -- I'm learning how to play banjo, and I'm trying to make it easier to find samples without spending a night sitting on the floor high listening to records instead of recording stuff.

[andy_tchp]

Alphabetical by artist and chronological order.

And later, randomized

[Embenny]

Alphabetical by artist and chronological order.

This is exactly how I do it. Kind of shocked that it took this long to find someone in this thread with some sense

[sal paradise]

Alphabetical by artist and chronological order.

This is exactly how I do it. Kind of shocked that it took this long to find someone in this thread with some sense

Sense is each of these compartments on the bottom with a different genre

[Embenny]

Sense is each of these compartments on the bottom with a different genre

I get why some people might do that, but legitimate question: what do you do when one artist released albums that span multiple genres, either from one to another, or within an individual one?

The idea of splitting up an artist's albums into different sections instead of having them lined up chronologically makes my eyelid twitch.

[Flurko]

I don't have enough records to sort them in any order more complicated than alphabetical / chronological.
I already don't buy pedals because they're too expensive, so usually I can't be bothered to get out of my way to buy records unless I'm at a show !

[ThePearDream]

My vinyl collection only takes up about three feet of shelf, so I don't get too complicated. I do a self-organizing system similar to Noguchi filing. This would never work for a large collection though.

Basically, after listening to an album, it goes to the open end of the shelf. Eventually the albums I listen to most, are the most accessible/easier to grab, and the stuff I listen to least, is farther back. Occasionally, I go through the stuff in the back and sell or give away stuff I don't play. It's super low effort/low thought, but very efficient as well. As an aside, I do basically the same thing with clothes that hangs in my closet.

Any CDs I still own, have been in a box in the basement for a decade plus.

[sal paradise]

Sense is each of these compartments on the bottom with a different genre

Lwhat do you do when one artist released albums that span multiple genres, either from one to another, or within an individual one?

The idea of splitting up an artist's albums into different sections instead of having them lined up chronologically makes my eyelid twitch.

What kind of human would do that?

I’ve put bands or artists into best fit based on how I would instinctively think to look for them. Simon & Garfunkel are in 60s, not folk & country. At the same time I’ve got Gram Parsons sat next to Fleet Foxes. But you need to go to indie/alt to get Father John Misty.

Yes. And now even I’ve confused myself with wtf have I actually categorised these into?

[dinosaurkale->]

my CDS ( about 1200 or so) are alphabetized by band name / artist name

my vinyl ( about 500 or so) is in separate compartments / shelves by: hxc/punk, all types of metal, electronic/dance, hip hop/rap, soundtracks. the rest is by decade: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s.

[Embenny]

What kind of human would do that?

I’ve put bands or artists into best fit based on how I would instinctively think to look for them. Simon & Garfunkel are in 60s, not folk & country. At the same time I’ve got Gram Parsons sat next to Fleet Foxes. But you need to go to indie/alt to get Father John Misty.

Yes. And now even I’ve confused myself with wtf have I actually categorised these into?

But then do you have Simon & Garfunkle in a separate section from Paul Simon, Paul Simon, Paul Simon, Paul Simon, and Paul Simon?

I can't imagine splitting up all those albums, or trying to stuff them into the 60s or folk section!