What is your method of filing/alphabetizing?

[Wagonmaster_91]

I have a rather large collection of..well...everything it seems. LPs, 45s, CDs, cassettes, RtoR, SACD/DVD-As, BRs, DVDs etc. (I'm talking about the physical items, not digital.) Finding a particular item requires some type of filing system and a filing system has to have some "rules" to make it work. But that is where the trouble starts. Sure, individual artists are easy - just use their last name - Bob Dylan under D, Neil Young under Y, etc. But what if an artist changes their name (John Cougar, John Cougar Mellencamp, John Mellencamp), either adds or drops one of their names - first or last (Dion DiMucci or Dion) or records under a completely different name (Colin Blunstone - Neil MacArthur then back to Colin Blunstone) or is a group then a person or vice versa (Alice Cooper, Ronnie James Dio, Rod Argent)?.

Group names get even more tricky. File under the first name of the group? (The Young Rascals or The Rascals? Paul Revere & The Raiders or The Raiders? The Animals or Eric Burdon and The Animals) Or by the last name of the group? (Chicago Transit Authority or Chicago? Grand Funk Railroad or Grand Funk?) And where to file an artist with a name such as The Dave Clark Five?

What about duos & trios? (Simon & Garfunkel - last names, Peter & Gordon, Peter, Paul & Mary - first names)

And then there are the numbers. Do you treat a numeral the same as the written word? (311 vs. Twenty One Pilots)

I'm starting to think my hard drives might have the right idea. They file folders by the first word no matter what. Yes, my "The" section on my hard drive(s) is mighty large but I can find The Flaming Lips as fast as I can The Beatles.

So, what is your system or set of filing "rules"?

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

My problem with including articles is that I often forget whether a band uses them in their name or not (is it "The Pixies" or just "Pixies?"). I've more or less stuck with a pretty old-fashioned filing scheme, just sorting by folder structure and naming folders "Pixies, The" for example.

I add one custom tag to help with this, which contains the same (sortable) string as the folder, i.e. "Pixies, The." (Actually, while tagging new stuff, this tag is used to create the folder.) The regular tags read normally (%artist% = The Pixies), because that looks much better on the Now Playing display of course.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

"The" and other articles are no problem with JRiver. I use them and file them where they seem proper and tell JRiver to ignore them in search/sort.

 

[Fourplay]

I tend to ignore articles like The, so The Pink Floyd Sound becomes simply Pink Floyd Sound. I often take my cues from record stores, where one would find The Who in the W's rather than the T's. As for numbers like 3 Doors Down I sort them before the letter A in numerical order. This is how a computer sorts.

As for computer folders, I might have a folder in both places - like "Who-The" and "The Who," and then place a shortcut in one of the folders which directs me to the one I have chosen for actual use. This may mean an extra mouse click, but ultimately gets me there quickly no matter where I look.

Back to physical media, the issue is complicated based on the size of the container. So I have DVDs on one shelf, Blu-rays on another, DVD-A cases on their own shelves, and normal CD jewel cases all together. This maximizes my storage space, but can complicate my searching. Although in most instances I know which type of media I am seeking so it is really not problematic.

My final complication is that I sort jazz and classical in a separate section from rock and all other. Mostly because I tend to go to rock first, and it is the largest section.

In the end, whether physical media or computer folders, the whole point is to devise a system that works with your own sense of logic, and which therefore gets you to the desired recording most quickly. Unless you are sharing a system with others, the sky is the limit on creative ways to approach the topic.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I record all records and CDs to tape. Stereo records are stored by tape number. Cds are stored alphabetically. Quad records are stored alphabetically. Storing alphabetically I use last name or group name.

 

[jimfisheye]

I have a rather large collection of..well...everything it seems. LPs, 45s, CDs, cassettes, RtoR, SACD/DVD-As, BRs, DVDs etc. Finding a particular item requires some type of filing system and a filing system has to have some "rules" to make it work. But that is where the trouble starts. Sure, individual artists are easy - just use their last name - Bob Dylan under D, Neil Young under Y, etc. But what if an artist changes their name (John Cougar, John Cougar Mellencamp, John Mellencamp), either adds or drops one of their names - first or last (Dion DiMucci or Dion) or records under a completely different name (Colin Blunstone - Neil MacArthur then back to Colin Blunstone) or is a group then a person or vice versa (Alice Cooper, Ronnie James Dio, Rod Argent)?.

Group names get even more tricky. File under the first name of the group? (The Young Rascals or The Rascals? Paul Revere & The Raiders or The Raiders? The Animals or Eric Burdon and The Animals) Or by the last name of the group? (Chicago Transit Authority or Chicago? Grand Funk Railroad or Grand Funk?) And where to file an artist with a name such as The Dave Clark Five?

What about duos & trios? (Simon & Garfunkel - last names, Peter & Gordon, Peter, Paul & Mary - first names)

And then there are the numbers. Do you treat a numeral the same as the written word? (311 vs. Twenty One Pilots)

I'm starting to think my hard drives might have the right idea. They file folders by the first word no matter what. Yes, my "The" section is mighty large but I can find The Flaming Lips as fast as I can The Beatles.

So, what is your system or set of filing "rules"?

Physical media (vinyl, etc) alphabetically by artist/album. On the computer, the Finder lets you sort by name/date/etc as you please. I keep it simple with media players. Manage files with the Finder and drag/drop what I want to hear in any media player. I ignore what I consider redundant file browser or playlist features is media player apps. Yeah, the "the" thing... Oh well.

All digital media is archived to hard drive in FLAC format (mkv for video+audio). Some of my analog collection is transferred to HD digital as I find time and motivation.

 

[ubertrout]

I kind of try to keep releases sorted by label, but in the past year new acquisitions have had no filing system and just been put on thusfar empty shelves. Too much else to do to worry much about it. Trying to organize classical by anything except label is the road to madness.

 

[Wagonmaster_91]

More ... And then there are the Soundtracks vs.Various Artists complications. File them under the first word of the title? I know lots of you put them in their own sections, but that doesn't solve all the problems. If a soundtrack features just one artist (The Song Remains The Same, The Kids Are Alright) it makes sense to file those in with the artist's other albums. But what about something like The Last Waltz? It is mostly The Band but lots of other artists, too. And what about "companion" soundtracks - when the first didn't contain all the music in the film (More Big Chill, More Dirty Dancing) ? Put it with the first soundtrack - right? But what to do with "Music Inspired By. (film name)" when most or none of the music was actually in the movie (Woodstock 40 Years On, Wild Wild West)? Or things that seem like soundtracks/musicals/Broadway shows, but are not (the original Jesus Christ Superstar)? Or albums by artists/composers made up of music from various films which they did the music (Ennio Morricone )?

I have so few Jazz titles I mix them in with my main sections and I am not going to bother trying to decide if Mahavishnu Orchestra or Weather Report is Jazz or Rock. I have almost no Opera but a small collection of Classical that I file separately from my main section. Thank goodness I don't collect many Classical titles - under composer, conductor, orchestra, featured artist(s) - and what if there are several on the album? If you collect many Classical titles and file under composer, your Beethoven and Bach sections must make your 37 disc Rolling Stones section look absolutely petite.

Decisions, decisions.

And to those of you who say, "I don't even collect physical media anymore. I ripped my entire collection to a hard drive/media server/my phone", good for you. So, since you ripped that Beatles "Yesterday and Today" butcher cover to digital, can I have your album? You aren't using it anymore.

 

[Jerfo]

For physical media, I sort alphabetically by artist's last name / band name, and then chronologically by release date within each artist. This is generally OK for rock and jazz, but it's more of a challenge for classical. For those, if a particular composer is most prominent on it, I'll sort by that composer If the soloist is most prominent, I'll go by his or her name. If it's the conductor, I'll use the conductor's name. Fun stuff!

Of course, my unsorted "new arrivals" pile grows larger by the day.

 

[mandrix]

I just go by first name, ignoring "the". Pink Floyd under P, for example. 311 would be under "T". The Rolling Stones filed in the "R" section.
It's done to suit myself only, so it doesn't really matter.
My problem is like Jerfo, the "new arrival" pile gets big sometimes. Good problem to have, which is seldom, but good nontheless.

 

[hafquark]

High resolution multi-channel and stereo optical discs (DVD-A, SACD, Blu-ray) are all together on their own shelves. I also throw in lossy DTS surround with the Hi-res discs.

CDs are alphabetized and further sorted into a few broad generic categories: Classical, Electronica, Folk, Soundtracks, World, and everything else (Rock, Folk-Rock, Avant-Garde, Adult Contemporary, etc.)

At seventeen, my first job was working in the downtown public library, so a slightly altered Dewey Decimal fiction scheme comes naturally to me.

The article "the" is ignored; proper artist name is surname first and given name last (Lennon, John); name of a group is first word alphabetized even if it's a list of proper names (Peter, Paul, & Mary is filed as Peter; Dave Clark Five would file as Dave); name changes are filed under the most common surname (John Cougar goes under Mellencamp); Artist name appended to the group name is usually ignored (Eric Burdon and The Animals is filed under Animals -- an exception for me is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which I file under Springsteen); numerals would be filed in numerical order before the alphabetized items (311 before "A" -- written out numerals such as Twenty One Pilots would file alphabetically under Twenty).

LPs are alphabetized in the same way as optical discs, although mine are in storage as I don't use a turntable nowadays. I generally find what I'm looking for using the above method, but whatever floats your boat should work

 

[DuncanS]

I've ordered mine in much the same way Artist, Release date, but due to the size variations I have a shelving in 2 alcoves for CD (almost filled), then self-standing shelves for LPs, DVD-A, BD-A, SACD, odd small box sizes, and box sets. My mother once remarked a few years ago "you're just like your father was, a collector, do you listen to them all?" .............Oh Yes! and I have all my late father's vinyl as well

 

[mandrix]

Ah yeah...I should have mentioned....my surround is separate from my stereo CD's...else I'd have to hoof it from one end of the house to the middle everytime I changed discs.
My stereo CD shelves (built by me out of 3/4" plywood..heavy!) are not close to the HT, but the surround disc are, in a couple of bought CD racks rapidly spilling over. These are mostly copies in normal jewel cases with (a lot) of the originals stashed in a closet. It's all on the cheap but works.
I don't collect vinyl anymore and have few left.

 

[HomerJAU]

I store my physical media by type (DVDA big case, DVDA CD case, SACD, BD big case, BD CD case etc). It’s an OCD system. Within that it’s alpha ignoring articles.

Now it’s all on my NAS in FLAC it’s stored by alpha with articles using the artist’s official name.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

I also add the release year in parentheses before the album name when creating folders, so they sort in chronological order. (I leave the date off the Album tag.)

 

[JerseyEd]

Ok, first, physical storage...
My albums are on a 4 shelf rack all by themselves.
My RBCD's are in CD organizers that take up a shelf on a different rack, whose other shelves are filled with drum parts, wah-wah's, recording equipment, my Lionel trains, etc.
My surround stuff (BR, SACD, DVD-V, DVD-A) are stored in a hallway closet.

As far as naming the main folders... I disregard the “THE” but do keep “A”. Solo artists (“Zappa, Frank”, “McCartney, Paul”) and groups starting with a proper name (“Revere, Paul & The Raiders”, “Lewis, Huey & The News”) are listed as Last Name, First Name, Group. I solved the Rascals problem by having them listed as “Rascals (Young)”. One exception is “Alice Cooper” which I use for both the group and solo artist.

These also include separate main folders for the different individual formats on the physical disks:
Guess Who (sacd 2 track HR flac)
Guess Who (sacd cd flac)
Guess Who (sacd iso)
Guess Who (sacd multi flac)

Within each folder I list each album by release year. If the artist had more than one release during a given year I add “a”, “b”, “c”, chronologically by release date. The most complicated naming involves the Beatles files, Which includes both British and American releases. The year is followed by either “87” (the original 1987 CD release), “65” (the 1965 stereo mixes that were included on the Mono Masters of Help! and Rubber Soul), “CP” (Capital Albums CD release), “SR” (2009 Stereo Remaster), or “MR” (2009 Mono Remaster).

1965 Example-
(1965a) (CP) Early Beatles
(1965b) (CP) Beatles VI
(1965c) (65) HELP! (extracted from the MR)
(1965c) (87) HELP!
(1965c) (CP) HELP!
(1965c) (MR) HELP! (inc 1965 St Mix)
(1965c) (SR) HELP!
followed by the (1965d) Rubber Soul folders.

Originally I placed soundtracks in a “OST” folder, but would often forget what was there, so I ended up just listing them the same as artists “A Mighty Wind”, “Donnie Darko”, “Forbidden Zone”, etc.

To add to all this lunacy, I keep a spreadsheet with a line by line listing of all the files which includes file year, type and format. PHEW!!!

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

No shame in being a spreadsheet nerd! I even use them on my phone!

 

[mandrix]

I also add the release year in parentheses before the album name when creating folders, so they sort in chronological order. (I leave the date off the Album tag.)

Yeah. These days, when we get remasters (rarely, but still...) makes sense. I'm just too lazy to worry about it-yet I used to be major OCD about ANYTHING music playback related. (don't ask my wife, please!)
When I quit thinking about so much I thought; man, it's a bad day to quit smoking cigarettes . But I got through it!
The second day, I thought; man, it's a bad day to quit sniffing glue.
(Y'all know how the rest of Lloyd Bridges part goes in Airplane, I suspect.)
But that was miles ago and years away.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

Hee! Now I gotta go see if Best Buy has a copy of Airplane! on Blu-Ray (before they stop selling those too).

[Edit] Well I'll be Shirley'd - they got one! Yay!

 

[HomerJAU]

I used to keep a spreadsheet but keeping it up to date was painful. That’s why I wrote my Music Media Media program’s File Manager tool. It scans everything and creates a report (PDF or Excel) of all music or video files under any source folder (sub folder). It includes tags and codec data, sub folder names, folder size etc. only runs on Windows. See the Media Player sub forum on QQ to check it out.