Culling Your Music Collection

[violadude]

Do you have a computer? My advice would be to invest in an external hard drive that can store up to terabytes of information and put your music on there.
that way you can get rid of some of your cds to make more space without losing any actual music.

[Mirror Image]

Do you have a computer? My advice would be to invest in an external hard drive that can store up to terabytes of information and put your music on there.
that way you can get rid of some of your cds to make more space without losing any actual music.

A good idea if I didn't have a collector's mentality.

[Parsifal]

Do you have a computer? My advice would be to invest in an external hard drive that can store up to terabytes of information and put your music on there.
that way you can get rid of some of your cds to make more space without losing any actual music.

One useful precaution is to make a digital copy of any CD culled. Before I took this precaution there were times I got rid of a CD, decided I had made a mistake, bought it again, only do be reminded why I had gotten rid of it in the first place. Having the digital copy has prevented me from making he mistake of re-buying.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Start by looking at pieces you have more than 4-5 recordings of. It's unlikely that the other 65-297 versions are going to give you anything meaningful you don't have already. Choose the versions you like best and keep only them.

Donate unwanted stuff to your library; you might at least get a tax deduction. I probably have about 3000 CDs, of which perhaps 1000 are things I don't ever expect to hear again. Each year I donate a box or two of books, scores, DVDs, and CDs to my library, and only once have I regretted giving up an item. It's easy to get choked by possessions. Culling is not nonsense.

[Jay F]

A good idea if I didn't have a collector's mentality.

Do you have enough room and enough shelves to just store your CDs on said shelves and be done with it? That's really all you need to do. George made very nice shelves for his CDs, and put pictures up in some thread. Maybe he'll see this and post them again. Very good looking setup.

[Mirror Image]

Start by looking at pieces you have more than 4-5 recordings of. It's unlikely that the other 65-297 versions are going to give you anything meaningful you don't have already. Choose the versions you like best and keep only them.

Donate unwanted stuff to your library; you might at least get a tax deduction. I probably have about 3000 CDs, of which perhaps 1000 are things I don't ever expect to hear again. Each year I donate a box or two of books, scores, DVDs, and CDs to my library, and only once have I regretted giving up an item. It's easy to get choked by possessions. Culling is not nonsense.

That's an excellent suggestion, Larry. Thank you. Now it's all a question of figuring what I want to keep vs. what I can do without.

[Mirror Image]

Do you have enough room and enough shelves to just store your CDs on said shelves and be done with it? That's really all you need to do. George made very nice shelves for his CDs, and put pictures up in some thread. Maybe he'll see this and post them again. Very good looking setup.

I haven't seen George's setup. Yes, I should definitely invest in some more shelves. Also a good suggestion. Thanks, Jay.

[Jay F]

"Don't cull me, bro."

[Mirror Image]

NEVER! I have my own mini-collection outside of my dad's Mahler collection and it's not going anywhere.

[Jay F]

That's so wonderful, alien.

I'm listening to the Fischer-Dieskau part of the original M3 CD release on CBS. Four Ruckert-Lieder and Lieder Und Gesange Aus Der Jugendzeit. John, it was you who reminded me how much I like this, and it wasn't included in the subsequent Symphony Edition, or at least, not attached to M3. But tonight, I get to listen to it again. It's been years.

[Mirror Image]

Hah! Although the grammatical error is driving me crazy (not that I'm free of them either).

I'm listening to the Fischer-Dieskau part of the original M3 CD release on CBS. Four Ruckert-Lieder and Lieder Und Gesange Aus Der Jugendzeit. John, it was you who reminded me how much I like this, and it wasn't included in the subsequent Symphony Edition, or at least, not attached to M3. But tonight, I get to listen to it again. It's been years.

Oh yes, Ruckert-Lieder is just marvelous. I'm actually listening to it now, too (the Gerhaher/Nagano recording). Gorgeous. Good to hear you're enjoying this music as much as I have.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Oh yes, Ruckert-Lieder is just marvelous. I'm actually listening to it now, too (the Gerhaher/Nagano recording). Gorgeous. Good to hear you're enjoying this music as much as I have.

Good case in point. I've got Baker/Barbirolli and Hampson/Bernstein, probably some other versions squirreled away in complete Mahler boxes. But I always turn to Baker. Would I miss Hampson if it were gone?

[DaveF]

I find that as I get older and more intolerant/set in my ways/honest (I think it was Auden who said something like We must be honest, even about our prejudices) my collection seems to cull itself - so I've recently admitted to myself that really, I don't much like solo piano music, nor historic recordings, so out goes Kempff's Beethoven.  Etc.  Perhaps those sweets of sin, harmony and counterpoint, will be next, so by the age of 80 I'll be left with 6 discs of plainchant and the odd bit of Siberian throat music.

[André]

I drove to the used records store area district today and CULLED  three boxes - some 275 discs. And came back with half a box of unwanteds and ONE new item: Pettersson's 12th symphony on Caprice.

I feel better now  . The CD-ologist told me she liked my selection. That's good because I still have 6 boxes to cart to the pawn shop used record store. That'll wait for next week.

[Mirror Image]

I drove to the used records store area district today and CULLED  three boxes - some 275 discs. And came back with half a box of unwanteds and ONE new item: Pettersson's 12th symphony on Caprice.

I feel better now  . The CD-ologist told me she liked my selection. That's good because I still have 6 boxes to cart to the pawn shop used record store. That'll wait for next week.

Yes, we're going to be upping your dosage in due time.

[Madiel]

Do you have a computer? My advice would be to invest in an external hard drive that can store up to terabytes of information and put your music on there.
that way you can get rid of some of your cds to make more space without losing any actual music.

That way you can breach copyright law.

Putting your CDs in storage and listening to versions stored on computer is in many places legal. Creating your own copy and giving/selling the CD to someone else is not.

Get rid of the CD, and you have to get rid of what's on the CD. Want to keep the music? Then you have to keep the CD. Or buy a copy of the music in another format.

[vandermolen]

This is a big issue for me. I think that I fall into the 'timid megalomaniac'' category mentioned earlier in this thread. I am 'having an affair' with my CD collection, according to my wife who see's the compulsive purchasing of CDs as a mental health issue (surely not!)
Anyway I have decided to reduce my CD collection and have found it oddly therapeutic as there is a local Oxfam shop which is very keen to have classical CDs. I think that you spend the first part of your life collecting and the second part giving things away. I hope that this Taoist-type advice is helpful to you all.
I am much older than MI so this approach seems right for this part of my life. It is no big deal especially as I have multiple copies of the same recordings, often at full-price, mid-price, budget and super-bargain (they all have different cover images you see - let's not go there). So, I am not going mad but I am slowly (too slowly according to my wife) reducing my CD collection. If I lived to be 100 I wouldn't have time to listen to them all anyway. My wife has also suggested that I chuck the whole lot out (many 1000s) having put them on to an 'iPod' whatever that is - but that is not going to happen. 

[DaveF]

Anyway I have decided to reduce my CD collection and have found it oddly therapeutic as there is a local Oxfam shop which is very keen to have classical CDs.

I'm relieved that "local" to you isn't "local" to me.  Most of my purchasing comes from Oxfam shops - I'm sure I'd come away with loads.  Culling? - fergeddit.

[Jo498]

I am probably roughly in the middle between MI and vandermolen in age (44), have bought CDs since 1988, and I am not quite successful at reducing but somewhat successful at slower growth. One reason is that the used market is very slow, so the motivation can only be to save space, not to make any siginificant money for new purchases. It has been a buyer's market since I remember but between 2001-06 I sold about 70 discs on Ebay and I seem to recall that selling was not quite as slow then as it is now. If 50 or so culled CDs are sitting in a box for many years what is even the point of moving the not longer wanted from the main shelves to the "discard box"...? The corollary is that used CDs can often be bought very cheaply, so even if one sticks to some self-inflicted amount per month, one can sometimes get an amazing amount of discs. (Same holds for the supercheap huge boxes of new discs.)

Space is an issue for many people but one can get creative.
I recently visited a former colleague who has (I think) tens of thousands of books and was surprised to find a few shelf boards bearing Latin classics installed in the guest's bathroom (I am talking about a tiny toilet room, not a real bath)!

[(poco) Sforzando]

I have never bothered trying to sell things on eBay or Amazon. If I don't want something, I simply chuck it in a box and take it to my public library. I once tried selling things here on GMG but decided the packing and shipping weren't worth the bother. December is naturally the ideal time to get busy on culling and donating, so I can claim my deductions on this year's tax return. My library either adds the things to its own location or puts them out on a sale shelf. I'll probably just spend a few hours before year end going through my shelves and boxing those things I can no longer imagine wanting.

Those who want to claim a US tax deduction should be aware that unless you itemize deductions, you get no tax benefit. And the larger the dollar amount you deduct, the more likely the IRS will want documentation. Just because you bought a CD for $15, you can't deduct $15. More like $1. But overall I find that claiming $300-400 in non-cash charitable donations on Schedule A is a safe bet. If you go over $500 you need another form and more precise documentation.