O.K. -sometimes I ask a question because I’m curious about your opinions. This time, I REALLY want to know:
How do you arrange your recorded music?
For a while, I used to separate it into classical (defined as the composer is most important) and pop (which was all the rest).
Then, I found that, in the pop section, I had too many compilation discs to keep track of, so I culled them (and soundtracks) into a separate category.
And now, I find myself re-sorting again. I’ve split the “compilations” into soundtracks (movie, Broadway, TV), tributes (to particular artists – got a LOT of Beatles), the compilers (this includes CDs on Motown, as well as discs put together by Eddie, e.g.). Then there are those few albums that I’ve ended up filing by category (folk, R&B), something I disdain in my artist section because I don’t know what it means. If I put THEM in categories, I’d have to split my k.d. lang into country and pop, and that just would not do. An album called Discovery R&B, or Warner Jazz, though, pretty much says it all.
The re-sorting became a function of not remembering. What IS the name of that Richard Thompson tribute album? (Beat the Retreat). How about the Elton John one? (Two Rooms). Or Curtis Mayfield? (A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield). The reshuffling puts all the Motown compilations together under M, rather than some under H (for Hitsville USA).
Of course, some albums fall under more than one category. The Tom Petty soundtrack for She’s the One; file under artist or soundtrack? The I Am Sam album- soundtrack or Beatles tribute?
So, again, what is YOUR solution? Assuming the solution isn’t “Put it all in my (nonexistent) iPod.”