Your music cataloging "system"

[jcam_44]

I didn't know collectorz was a subscription now. I bought it long ago and paid a one time fee. the app was a separate fee. It's connected to discog's, that where it pulls most its information. I just manipulate after what information I want. 

Edited March 25, 2020 by jcam_44

[hopkins]

9 hours ago, mjzee said:

.. If necessary, most albums have a Wikipedia page, which will tell me what I need to know. 

First thing I do is to look up my albums on Wikipedia. 

It would be great to add Mosaic box sets to Wikipedia, with credits by session.  I will look into it and maybe take a shot at it with one set to see how much time it takes. 

Edited March 25, 2020 by hopkins

[Brad]

Although I’m sure the Wikipedia entries are correct, it’s not what I consider a reliable source. My go to site on looking at an album is All Music. 

[JSngry]

I rely on my memory, as well as the luck of the random look.

Probably not gonna work for everybody, that.

[Brad]

23 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I rely on my memory, as well as the luck of the random look.

Probably not gonna work for everybody, that.

Relying on my memory is what made me keep a list of what I have 

[porcy62]

16 minutes ago, Brad said:

Relying on my memory is what made me keep a list of what I have 

Same here.

And I wanted to get rid of dupes and music I don't listen anymore, so I loaded all my stuff on Discogs and started selling what I don't need anymore.

[JSngry]

The way I avoid duplicates is by looking at my "to listen to" rack before ordering. And that's mostly for classical.

When I hear a jazz record once, I tend to remember hearing it by various means (cover, lead artist, good soloist, catchy tune, something). I might not remember the vivid details (especially if there aren't any...), but somehow, if you show me a record, I can usually tell you if I've heard it or not, and then the next question is do I want to buy it if I haven't.

That's one of the reasons I buy less jazz (or buy jazz less frequently, let's put it that way) - if I want to hear it, I know where it is, and there's getting to be less and less that I don't know where it is.

I screw up every once in a while, but that's painless compared to manually entering all that data into ANYTHING.

[mjzee]

2 hours ago, hopkins said:

First thing I do is to look up my albums on Wikipedia. 

It would be great to add Mosaic box sets to Wikipedia, with credits by session.  I will look into it and maybe take a shot at it with one set to see how much time it takes. 

Mosaic discographies have always been a great source of info.  There have been sites that had discographies of OOP Mosaic sets; there have been threads detailing those sites here - perhaps do a search.  However, who knows how many of those links are still active.  But certainly, download the discographies of current Mosaic sets for future reference.

[Bluesnik]

4 hours ago, JSngry said:

That's one of the reasons I buy less jazz (or buy jazz less frequently, let's put it that way)

 

4 hours ago, JSngry said:

I screw up every once in a while, but that's painless compared to manually entering all that data into ANYTHING.

I also buy less and less. And specially not nearly as much as I once did. I nearly don't buy anything now. One of the advantages of having more and more. And I also don't have anything listing what I have. To create it would be an awesome job, though I'm considering doing it more and more.

[gmonahan]

I sure wish I had the memory of some here! I've used Music Collectorz for several years. No subscription. I just bought it at some point, and it still works fine. As for the shelves: alphabetically by artist and then each artist's stuff chronologically, like, I think, a lot of people here. Works for me.

 

 

 

gregmo

[hopkins]

45 minutes ago, Bluesnik said:

 

I also buy less and less. And specially not nearly as much as I once did. I nearly don't buy anything now. One of the advantages of having more and more. And I also don't have anything listing what I have. To create it would be an awesome job, though I'm considering doing it more and more.

Could be a good time to start if you are confined at home...

[Bluesnik]

Yes, I am.

[jlhoots]

Like Jim, it's all in my head. When that goes I'm in trouble.

[mikeweil]

There is a nice freeware, Beyond Category, programmed for this purpose. I use its companian software, BRIAN, for serious discographical purposes. 

I have typed my collection into discogs and the Tom Lord Discography, but will continue with Beyond Category soon. Too many issues are missing in both the latter databases.

[Д.Д.]

My concern with freeware is that it might not be there long-term. With paid subscription-based services you have a bit more sustainability (nothing is ever guaranteed, of course). There is a (small) team of dedicated developers who work on Collectorz full time. They are providing regular software updates (already seven in 2020) and the solution has changed dramatically over the last few years.   

[mikeweil]

Steven Albin is a very reliable software developper.

[Brad]

I’ve been uploading items into Collectorz and I like it a lot. One of its best features is its ability to read barcodes. IMO, this is one of the biggest problems with Discogs. I suggested that to them but received no reply. 

[hopkins]

18 minutes ago, mikeweil said:

Steven Albin is a very reliable software developper.

+1

[riddlemay]

I still listen primarily to physical discs, namely CDs. Since I like several genres of music, the discs are grouped by genre. All the jazz is in one grouping, all the film scores are in one grouping, etc., etc. Within a grouping, there are subcategory groups. For instance, in the jazz section of my personal Tower Records, discs that are piano-led are in one group. Discs that are guitar-led in another. Discs that are horn-led in another. Big band discs in another. Etc. Within those subcategories, discs are grouped by artist. So, within the piano-led subgroup, all the Bill Evans are together, all the Monks are together, etc. I can find what I'm looking for without too much trouble.

Edited March 26, 2020 by riddlemay

[clifford_thornton]

For vinyl I had an Excel spreadsheet that I moved over to google sheets a few years ago, and then put all that info gradually into Discogs, checking pressing details where I could. One thing that's annoying is that that info changes within 'scogs -- usually where there was just one "master release" and no variations, and now those variations have been added in. 

Most of my collection is in 'scogs, but there are still some outliers. 

I'm slowly -- very slowly -- adding CDs to 'scogs as well, though most of my CD collection is in storage.

[Stonewall15]

21 hours ago, Bluesnik said:

 

I also buy less and less. And specially not nearly as much as I once did. I nearly don't buy anything now. One of the advantages of having more and more. And I also don't have anything listing what I have. To create it would be an awesome job, though I'm considering doing it more and more.

Entering a collection onto an excel spread-sheet is quite easy. It would take a lot of time if you have a large collection but the benefits after you are done are terrific. The capability of excel to sort any column is very useful. At a minimum you could enter artist, title, and label in each of 3 columns. Additional columns could include source such as CD, CDR, LP, Cassette. Secondary artists could also be listed in separate columns. I find this very useful because some albums have more than one principal artist or for a particular artist that I follow. I also have a column for notes about the album that I want to save.

[JSngry]

how many items do you guys have that it's not a lot of time entering all the info into Excel? Or all you all retired with unlimited free time?

[porcy62]

12 minutes ago, JSngry said:

how many items do you guys have that it's not a lot of time entering all the info into Excel? Or all you all retired with unlimited free time?

Several weekends maybe ten, for searching and loading approximately 3500 items on discogs. Admittedly discogs do not list all of my stuff maybe 50 pressings or editions are missing 

Edited March 26, 2020 by porcy62

[Д.Д.]

1 hour ago, mikeweil said:

Steven Albin is a very reliable software developer.

I am not implying that he's not. It's just that it is one guy for whom his software is merely a hobby that does not generate revenue. This is not a very sustainable proposition long-term.  

[JSngry]

Ah, 3500-ish...that was a missed opportunity...but I didn't have a computer then, so perhaps not!