How do you Organize!

SnowmaNick said:
Question: how do people here organize their more modern records?

I’ve been dividing by genre (more or less) and then alphabetically within the genre, but this gets tricky with artists who have spanned several decades or switched genres.

Currently my small/medium collection (~900 records) is divided into the following genres: jazz, classical, opera, blues, country, classic rock, modern rock & alternative. I’ve put certain movie soundtracks and scores into the closest matching genres. It seemed logical at first, but then you have artists like Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, etc., that have decades stretching from the “classic rock”’era to current. Would it make more sense to just put all rock into one category? If I do, where do other popular, non-rock albums go (NIN, Nirvana, Metallica, 2Pac, X, Bad Religion, Minor Threat) go? They’d be pretty small sub-sections as I don’t have tons, so maybe just alphabetical in the rock/pop section?
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I think genre becomes problematic because of the reasons you stated and genre has gotten a lot of grey area as well over the years, lol. I still like alphabetical by artist or group, last name or band name dropping "The" if it exists. I have moved all my Jazz/Blues albums into their own section now that I have enough to warrant said section, lol.

But whatever works for you :)
 
I have a 2x4 expedit (the Ikea cube shelf before kallax). I do not organize. All of my Christmas records are in one cube though.
 
I've been struggling with this lately. I currently store sorted by the Discogs sort order. A month or so back I expanded with three more cubes and spread the collection out leaving a little space in each cube.

The extra space for growth resulted in some records having a slight learn. After going down the internet rabbit hole about this warping records my OCD forced me to shuffle everything again removing any extra space from each cube to prevent the leaning and any possible warping.

Now I am constantly reshuffling each time I add a couple new records or more. My collection is not huge, almost 500, but it's still can be a lot of work. So do you guys leave space for growth, just reshuffle all the time, or maybe just store new grabs in open storage until you get a larger amount to justify a total reshuffle?
 
I always leave room! i hate pulling records that are squashed on the shelf.

Also discogs sort is the best sort
 
DougTheDog said:
I've been struggling with this lately. I currently store sorted by the Discogs sort order. A month or so back I expanded with three more cubes and spread the collection out leaving a little space in each cube.

The extra space for growth resulted in some records having a slight learn. After going down the internet rabbit hole about this warping records my OCD forced me to shuffle everything again removing any extra space from each cube to prevent the leaning and any possible warping.

Now I am constantly reshuffling each time I add a couple new records or more. My collection is not huge, almost 500, but it's still can be a lot of work. So do you guys leave space for growth, just reshuffle all the time, or maybe just store new grabs in open storage until you get a larger amount to justify a total reshuffle?
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I like to recycle leftover 12x12 cardboard mailing stiffeners. Just slap a few as needed in each cube to allow for expansion while keeping the recs safe and upright.

Edit: I posted a quick pic in C ur collection. This does NOT yet have recs upright and spacers inserted. Work in progress so don’t go by that. Once done all vinyl will be properly stored straight upright.
 
So I used to have an ordered system of a 2x6 Kallax. Top 2 cubes were VMP releases (Essentials - R&HH - Classics). Next 2 were Rap. The bottom 4 were mixed of everything else.

I have kept that system but now have a 2x2 Kallax with an additional 1x4 row attached at the side which joins to the 2x6 (on the right) - Like a sideways L with a bit of a nib on the top. Because im lazy, I have kept the 2x6 but then continued the 'everything else' through the 2x2 (on the far right) and 1 of the 1x4. The remaining 3 cubes are Jazz with Blue Notes (in numbered order), Mixed Jazz, Japanese Jazz (Alphabetical) and London/UK Jazz.

I have 2 carry cases in the bedroom which are full of 12" singles (which I really need to get around selling as they never get played and im sure someone would appreciate them more than me.

I also have 2 big crates (reclaimed wooden port and wine crates which lined inside to protect the records) which are basically used as overflow at this point. I use one as a playlist/to-play type crate.

Im at the stage where I have just under 1000 albums (with another 100 or so 7" and 12") and im really struggling for space. Im also contemplating whether I should pick a number and try to stick to that by culling and trading. Realistically am I going to regularly listen to all 1000 of the albums I have? Probably not. But at the same time its nice to have the options. If I had more apartment space I wouldn't really worry about it, but the records are pretty much the focal point of the room at this point and there's only so many plants my girlfriend can buy as a distraction.
 
Selaws said:
So I used to have an ordered system of a 2x6 Kallax. Top 2 cubes were VMP releases (Essentials - R&HH - Classics). Next 2 were Rap. The bottom 4 were mixed of everything else.

I have kept that system but now have a 2x2 Kallax with an additional 1x4 row attached at the side which joins to the 2x6 (on the right) - Like a sideways L with a bit of a nib on the top. Because im lazy, I have kept the 2x6 but then continued the 'everything else' through the 2x2 (on the far right) and 1 of the 1x4. The remaining 3 cubes are Jazz with Blue Notes (in numbered order), Mixed Jazz, Japanese Jazz (Alphabetical) and London/UK Jazz.

I have 2 carry cases in the bedroom which are full of 12" singles (which I really need to get around selling as they never get played and im sure someone would appreciate them more than me.

I also have 2 big crates (reclaimed wooden port and wine crates which lined inside to protect the records) which are basically used as overflow at this point. I use one as a playlist/to-play type crate.

Im at the stage where I have just under 1000 albums (with another 100 or so 7" and 12") and im really struggling for space. Im also contemplating whether I should pick a number and try to stick to that by culling and trading. Realistically am I going to regularly listen to all 1000 of the albums I have? Probably not. But at the same time its nice to have the options. If I had more apartment space I wouldn't really worry about it, but the records are pretty much the focal point of the room at this point and there's only so many plants my girlfriend can buy as a distraction.
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Everyone is different but generally I really like having lps that I bought decades ago. Adds depth to the collection and you can’t beat pulling out an album you haven’t heard in a long while.

On the other hand, clutter brings me down in the music room so it all needs space.

Do you have a relative with clean, dry, stable temp room or closet who would let you store recs there? Keep some in the apartment and store the rest off site. Switch them out once in awhile. Eventually you will likely get a bigger space to bring it all together.
 
POGunter said:
Everyone is different but generally I really like having lps that I bought decades ago. Adds depth to the collection and you can’t beat pulling out an album you haven’t heard in a long while.

On the other hand, clutter brings me down in the music room so it all needs space.

Do you have a relative with clean, dry, stable temp room or closet who would let you store recs there? Keep some in the apartment and store the rest off site. Switch them out once in awhile. Eventually you will likely get a bigger space to bring it all together.
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Its a great point. One of the reasons I enjoy buying records is that it acts as a snapshot of the period it was bought. I also try to buy a record on each trip/holiday I take, and have a simple index card which I keep in the sleeve with notes on where it was bought, the date, etc.

On the otherhand I also have a few which have no real emotional value, I might end up shifting some of those at some point but that wont really dent it.

Im going to have to have a proper think about this at some point for sure. I will probably end up adding another shelf to my living room or bedroom. That would clear the storage problem up completely.
 
When I first started collecting, I thought I was a degenerate by organizing A-Z by band / FIRST name. So, Jimmy Hendrix and Jimmy Buffett are next to each other. My brain goes right to the "J" when I am looking, but I am considering reorganizing which would be quite the feat. Anyone else do it this way, or am I the only sadistic one?
 
scotthilk said:
When I first started collecting, I thought I was a degenerate by organizing A-Z by band / FIRST name. So, Jimmy Hendrix and Jimmy Buffett are next to each other. My brain goes right to the "J" when I am looking, but I am considering reorganizing which would be quite the feat. Anyone else do it this way, or am I the only sadistic one?
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I’m lazy...this is the way to go for me...it is way easier for my brain 😂😂
 
Crabbers said:
I’m lazy...this is the way to go for me...it is way easier for my brain 😂😂
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I do understand why many/most prefer sorting by last name, but "first letter no matter what" (aside from A or The), is easy for my lazy brain as well.
 
scotthilk said:
When I first started collecting, I thought I was a degenerate by organizing A-Z by band / FIRST name. So, Jimmy Hendrix and Jimmy Buffett are next to each other. My brain goes right to the "J" when I am looking, but I am considering reorganizing which would be quite the feat. Anyone else do it this way, or am I the only sadistic one?
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Crabbers said:
I’m lazy...this is the way to go for me...it is way easier for my brain 😂😂
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This. Discogs style is my style. Would never go back to standard alphabetization.
 
scotthilk said:
When I first started collecting, I thought I was a degenerate by organizing A-Z by band / FIRST name. So, Jimmy Hendrix and Jimmy Buffett are next to each other. My brain goes right to the "J" when I am looking, but I am considering reorganizing which would be quite the feat. Anyone else do it this way, or am I the only sadistic one?
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I have my records organized this way as well. My brain will always look to find Miles Davis under M, etc. I would just confuse myself unnecessarily by doing it last name first. I have my records organized just into 2 groups: Jazz (since I have a lot of jazz now) and everything else.

I will say though, I find it quite fun to reorganize every once in awhile. I enjoyed setting everything up and reorganizing when I moved into my current place over a year ago. My shelving is overflowing right now so once my new record cabinet is finished I'll do a bit of rearranging/purging. But will always keep it organized by first name. The true crazies are the ones who organize based on color of spline or some other bizarre metric. At that rate, I'd just never listen to any of my records ever again.
 
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