How many records/CDs?

Markus

Definition of a music lover?
- someone who's record/cd collection cost more than the HI-Fi

Otherwise you're a hi-fi fan first and foremost, rather than music.

What do you think?

David

David,

I'd agree with the general principle, especially as I spent way more on the records than on my hardware and wouldn't deny myself the chance to confirm my status as a music lover. A special exception has to made for people who borrow their records from the library or listen to the radio a lot.

But -

a)

one of goals of downsizing my collection is that I'd then feel better about adding to it again; and

b)

even if I do downsize the collection, I'd still have spent way more on records than on the hardware. I'm not a collector/hoarder at heart. I don't want to be a slave of my things.

As with many people here, I guess, I actually listen regularly to a tiny fraction of my records. There are quite a few which I'm sure I don't want to listen to again, and I've already made up my mind that I'll get rid of those. But there are many hundreds which I may want to listen to again, some day, but will feel no great loss if I can't. It's those records I'm unsure about.

Hi, I have about 3000 LPs and 1000 CDs and of course there are some shit ones (I'd say 50 or so) but the majority are good or better and you never know when the urge to play them again will come, whether a friend or a track on the radio comes on. So don't sell any. Unfortunatley my system is worth more than them but its the music on them I love.

No one needs more than 5 Lp's or CD's any more is clearly unnecessary.

The comment about how much of a music lover you are depends on how much you have spent on kit verses recorded medium intrigues me somewhat!

I,ve got about 300 CDs or so, which when you work out how much they are worth compared to the value of the kit I use to play them on is approx. less than 20% of the kit. Does this make me any less of a music lover because of this ?

I like to take my time when I am selecting recordings, for me they have to come up to certain requirements. I listen to hundreds of albums each year but out of those listened to I may only purchase one, some, or none it depends doesn't it...Maybe I,m fussy about what I choose to take home and lets face play more than once, longevity is one of those requirements.

I want musical enjoyment that lasts!

Theres no point in having a vast collection of albums if you dont listen to half of them!

So sort out what you want to keep, sell those you don't and remember make a better decision next time!

Cheers

Mad Boy Matt

I think I have a very small collection - about 1000 CDs and 2000 LPs, and I have been buying music reasonably consistently since I was 15 (I am 35 years old). I think Richard Dane has something like 20000 records and isn't much older than me, and David Slater seems to have every record ever made by anyone. And then we have the older mob(I mean that in a nice way), Nick Lees etc, who always surprises me with their ecletic taste.

My collection has quiet a bit of Jazz (Blue Note and Impluse stuff), more modern Jazz (eg Esbjorn Svenson Trio, Joshua Redman, etc), some Hip Hop (when I was 16 this was electro), some Dubby stuff (like Eek-a-mouse, Soul JAzz records, etc), some Indian Classical (Waterlily acoustics and Nimbus), some R&B (eg MAxwell, Jill Scott) and some ravey, junglist, housey, phat beaty stuff to keep it all real.

I have hardly any classical or indie stuff, but I do have some Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, Stone Temple Pilots and Rage against the Machine.

I have a NAT01 which means that we listen to music on the airwaves (mainly R3 and the pirate Junglist stations) alot.

Dev

About 1000 discs in toatl. How many you should have depends on what you like. I often find I haven't got what I really want for any given occasion, so clearly I should have more, though I know plenty of folk who can quite happily live with less.

If you just want music then a good aerial and tuner should keep you sorted with no discs at all. I use my tuner more than the disc spinners.

Pete.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pete:
About 1000 discs in toatl. How many you should have depends on what you like. I often find I haven't got what I really want for any given occasion, so clearly I should have more, though I know plenty of folk who can quite happily live with less.

If you just want music then a good aerial and tuner should keep you sorted with no discs at all. I use my tuner more than the disc spinners.

Pete.

---

Pete,

I just wondered if you were Pete C, and if so hello!

regards

Dev

Hi Dev, I am indeed. Last visit to Robert's was for a MD walkman, so a bit cheaper than the outcome of a typical "trip upstairs"...

Pete.

Not to put a damper on things but ... I don't buy this cost of record/cd collection v. cost of hi-fi system test. (For the record, mine is a pretty close call, so I'm not someone who falls into the hi-fi geek category).

First, I think a lot depends on how frequently one likes to hear his/her favorite recordings. For instance, some people, like myself, like to listen to their favorite recordings quite often (maybe 100-125 records/cds out of a larger collection). I don't feel compelled to buy every record/cd I can lay my hands on (although I buy a hell of a lot more than my spouse would like). People who hate to listen to same recording more than once every couple of months may accumulate much larger collections than someone like me (without necessarily being a bigger music lover). I think a better test is what percentage of "available" time does one spend actually listening to music.

Second, the "right" number of records/cds for a person is a completely individual matter - no rules should apply. What good is keeping a recording if you haven't bothered to play it in the last 5 years? Markus says he has about 2,700 records and 400 cds. If he listens to all of them in the course of a year or two, I'd say keep them all and keep buying what you want to hear without any guilt. However, if he can't remember listening to half his music in the last decade or so, I think he should sell the dust-gathering recordings and use the proceeds to buy some new music that will be listened to.

My two cents.

MBM

There is a difference between being a collector and being a music lover (although not mutually exclusive). I buy music, if I like it and it gets regular plays it stays, if not I get rid eventually. This is the music I love I guess.

My 'collection' also includes a complete set of some artists including albums I do not really like or listen too any more but where I get some obscure satisfaction in having the full set. I can understand why people buy more stuff than they can possibly listen too on this basis.

If I get approximately 5 hours a week to really listen to music then having a several thousand CD's is not going to be very useful from the pure music point of view. This does not make me any less of a music lover surely-after all it takes nearly 3 hours a day for an entire year to listen to 2000 albums just once each!

Bruce

Bruce

I have about 500 records of which perhaps half are classical LPs. The vast majority of the latter are secondhand, often bought because they were available rather than because they were great favourites. Further, many of them feature obscure, mediocre conductors/performers/musicians, and don't deserve to be in my collection. One day I'll round them up and donate them to a charity shop. This should make space for at least 100 new records...

Apart from lack of funds, my almost perpetual dissatisfaction with my hi-fi is a disincentive to buying new music. If I had the money I'd try to spend my way out of the problem, and I think I'd succeed.

As things are, my budget DVD player and 'goldfish bowl'-tubed 14" TV are quite good enough for me - yes, I'm talking about widescreen movies - to forget about the equipment, so I think it's inevitable that DVDs will now be a greater priority for me than new music... Sad, eh?

--J

I thought my comments would get a reaction

I must admit I was playing a bit of "devil's advocate", in that I'm not too sure about the validity of the "test" myself.

I was however making a serious point - how often in the hi-fi corner do you see someone giving the advice to spend excess monies on music, rather than ever smaller, and more expensive improvements in hi-fi? I have friends who are obsessed by music, but listen to it on the most dreadful hi-fi's. They don't seem to care what it sounds like, but can still hear the emotional heart of a song, and get off on that.

David

How many ?

Each to their own, I suppose. I have <1000 CDs and to be honest, I wish I had less. I would rather have a smaller number of discs that I really love than more discs that never get played. I am trying to be even more selective about which discs I buy so that they don't get played once then sit there gathering dust. There's a pretty obvious flaw in this plan, but I just don't have enough listening hours to do justice to the stuff I already have. I find that I often need to play a disc ten or more times before I can accurately say whether I like it or not - "burn in time" if you like.

I do get nervous when I hear people say "just buy more music!" Each to their own, but I am trying to be more discerning.

A music lover ?
Someone who enjoys the music whether it's played on a $$$$$ system or on a walkman.

Regards,

Brian OReilly

I have about 3,600 LPs, about 700 7"ers, about 750 12"-ers, 600 or 700 cassettes and about 1,500 CDs.

Many of these are multiples, as I am a collector of certain groups and like to have different pressings and variations. I'd say about 50% of my CD collection consiss of bootlegs (mostly by my fave groups, namely New Order, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, Durutti Column,


About 200 LPs are classical (mostly baroque, chamber music and solo piano works), about 700 are jazz (75 of them are by Miles Davis!).

I also listen to a wide variety of music from 60s girl groups and 50s crooners to avant-jazz and unpleasant electronic noise. I pretty much listen to everything, apart from heavy metal, nosebleed techo, garage, American poodle rock, Dion/Carey power ballads and Geneisis/Collins, and hopefully my collection reflects this.

Of course, I don't have time to listen to everything, but it's great to have access to so much music - specially when you want to share your discoveries and old faves with friends.

Kevin

Compared to many here, I actually have quite a small collection of CD's, round about 400. They come from quite a broad range of music, from Public Enemy to Portishead, and Tori Amos to Thomas Tallis.

I have music playing the majority of the time I'm at home, and whilst there are CD's that I haven't listened to for a while, it's always fun reaquainting yourself with a piece that you've not heard for some time.

I don't really understand the "need" to have a certain number of albums, or how many someone "should" have, though. I've got about 250 cd's in my shopping basket at amazon, and as soon as I buy a few of those, there are some more titles which catch my eye, and so the number increases again. Sure i'd love to have a huge library of music, but it doesn't seem to be something that you can put a cap, or a limit on. Part of the fun is looking around and wondering what to buy next.

There is always going to be new and interesting music to buy, just as there are always going to be old favourites that you will always want to have in your collection.

I don't really buy into the cost of software v hardware either. This isn't maths, it's musical enjoyment. Whilst it would seem strange for someone to have a many thousand pound system and only a handful of CD's, if you enjoy the collection that you have, whatever the size, then god luck to you!

As Kevin said, it's also great to be able to recommend and share your collection with other people.

Cheers

Matt

Chaps

This idea that "music lovers" have thousands of LP's or CD's is pure twaddle.

I have around 600 Cd's and about 250 LP's. I also have 2 Hifi systems in different rooms. According to some rationalle, If I were to buy a CDS3, I have to buy another 1000 CD's to balance the hardware/software equation.

It will take me the best part of one year to listen to all my music if I played 3 albums each and every day. I have enough to satisfy my needs and I shall buy better equipment so as I can enjoy what I got better.

Regards

Mick

Well, here we go...........

I am just embarking on my new system as two children put paid to various sets of tweeters as they were growing up (......oops, they don't come out like the bass drivers) and my recent few years have been spent looking at my turntable and listening to CD's on my DVD player (gasp, shock, horror !).

So I now intend to spend more on my system than my collection of "software" for the foreseeable future.

Does this make me a "hifi preferer" ? I tend to think not - it's just a change in budget priority. We go many years upgrading, adding, tweaking in order to get the end result just as we want it and then stop analysing the sound and start enjoying the music. How many times has your foot tapped in a restaurant full of chatter and not-so-perfect acoustics ?

I think that everyone is entitled to have as large or small a collection as they wish - it's the pleasure you get rather than the numbers game, isn't it ?

My suggestion to anyone who is considering downsizing is simple as I collect scotch whisky miniatures and went from 1200 to just over 100 recently. Put the ones you think you don't want in a box and see if you can live without them for 12 months. If you can - time to let them go.

Please don't try this exercise with animals or children; vinyl and CD's do not need food, water or "comfort breaks"

In any case - enjoy the music !

quote:

---

Originally posted by long-time-dead:
My suggestion to anyone who is considering downsizing is simple as I collect scotch whisky miniatures and went from 1200 to just over 100 recently. Put the ones you think you don't want in a box and see if you can live without them for 12 months. If you can - time to let them go.

---

That's the smartest suggestion I've seen for ages (although it's easier with the wee soldiers, as the miniatures are called in parts of Scotland - you just drink those you don't want). Now to persuade my better half...

Bhoyo

As a I am a Scot, the little ones are for collecting as the big ones are intended for opening and sharing - there just ain't enough in the little ones to go round

Thanks for your kind words, and give it a try !

Markus said:

"My dealer said nobody needs more than about a 1,000 records"

His dealer is talking bollocks. 1,000 per month, thats more like it!

I still don't get what is the problem seom people have with having a lot of records, of a lot of different styles?

Just because you can't listen to every one of them all the time, so what?

The ability to follow artists and groups through thier careers, and then the individuals through thier careers and then thier followers and thier influences is like exploring a complex tributary river system, with some familar paths, some new surprises and challenges.

It seems to me that a wide taste in different musical forms, some in greater depth than others can only be a good thing.

DS

ITC - Narcotik Affluence - Synkoid

I'm on overload, personally. But glad to be experiencing it.

I buy many many vintage soul, blues, jazz, funk & hip hop albums. 25/week isn't unusual. Tonight or later this week I expect to buy a small collection of about 200-300 pieces. Many of these I use to seek out samples to be used for producing hip hop. All this is in-work with no final results yet. But also I collect vintage soul, funk and jazz. At roughly $1 per disk I figure I can't go wrong. I use my unwanted disks as trade stock to the local vendors and usually come out quite well.

I'm at about 40+ linear feet of lp's, about maybe 10 linear ft of 7" 45's, 15 ft of cd's? I've lost count, I'm out of shelf space, records are stacked in front of everything and my wife thinks its crazy. Soon I'm gonna move 500 albums to the basement where I'm setting up a workspace.

I'm amazed at my growing want list. and that I can go to almost any records store, get "lost" for hours and end up leaving with a stack of records and feeling some regret at those I have to leave behind.

Plus, as a music director at the local college station I have access to many thousands of cd's and albums.

Realistically I think about 1000 albums/cd's in combination sounds realistic, not including inflow/outflow and samples for production. More than that and it's sometimes problematic to remember which track was by which artist on which album.

Markus
=---------

The question should be - Are you a collector, music lover or both?

I agree with Mick P., it really doesn't matter how many (or few) records one has as long as you enjoy the music. Infact, I would contend that those who have multiple 1000's of cd's etc., should add "collecting" as much as "listening" as an interest. Thus, if you don't collect, your library will be smaller than one who does, but it will be no less important or relevant as far as being a music lover.

However, I do find I have a problem in deciding which CD's to sell (I have around 900.) If two-thirds of a cd's content is questionable and the other third great, do you keep it or dump it?


tim

quote:

---

If two-thirds of a cd's content is questionable and the other third great, do you keep it or dump it?

---

Maybe it's here where Cd recorders might be useful.

I have around 60 CDs and aroun 120 albums.