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Genuine Q: How Much of Your Vinyl Gets Played?


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For anyone who can resist the low-hanging fruit – you actually play your records? / none, I frame everything I own / none, I just resell them once I get them / none, I'm keeping everything factory sealed for maximum profits later on / one per year as a personal ritual / none, I just turn them into bowls whenever I need one / wait there's actually music on these things?! – I'm curious how much of your collection is actually listened to.

 

Some diving-off points to consider.

 

– Do you make it a habit to actually play through the new records you receive?
– If you've been collecting for a while, how often do you actually go through and revisit the stuff you bought 5+ years ago?
– What % of your collection has been on a turntable, if you had to estimate?
– What %, if any, do you simply never intend to spin, and just enjoy owning?

 

A few people touched on this in the ~"when is it time to stop buying vinyl?" thread and I found it really interesting to hear some of the answers.  There are factors that a lot of us aren't considering... like backlog.  There was a point when I had a ton of my records boxed up in the process of moving, but was still buying new stuff, and before Covid / pre-order delays were such a big part of the hobby, there was a summer where it was simply raining parcels every other day.  Great problem to have, but it took an active effort to actually open up, sleeve, and just generally "get around" to the vinyl experience for those.  If I ever get to a point where genuinely I forget that I ordered a record and it just pops up, I'm done.  2much4me.

 

Some people start families and become astounded at how much of their free time vanishes.  They find themselves, now, able to to spin a record once or twice a week if they're lucky.  I can't imagine that these people continue to buy and hoard new vinyl, for obvious reasons, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

On January 1st of 2021, I started a separate column on my vinyl spreadsheet to actually log what I listened to last year.  I work from home and have the luxury of having music on 50-90% of each shift.  It's something I don't take for granted, so I try to take advantage of that when I can.  But even with that said, I find that I wasn't able to spin everything in my collection over the course of the year.  Not even close.  I own a little over 1,800 records, and ~1,600 of those are unique (non-variants).  Midway through the year I decided I was going to start counting digital plays towards my objective... and even now, a year+ later, I'm still only at 87.4% played.  Over a year.  Including streaming.  While working from home.  Considerably less than that 87% was placed on my turntable last year, that is for certain.

 

(But I will say, it's "fun" tracking this stuff, and really illuminating to identify what I have the desire to own.  I'm all for mood artists – even genres – but if I've found that I'm not in the right mood over the course of an entire year, to play a given artist, it's probably time to assess the value in keeping those records around.  I value my shelf space and beyond that, "all killer, no filler" is the endgame for any vinyl collection that's 4 digits in size.  If your collection is expansive and you haven't considered doing something like this, I cannot recommend it enough.  I've always said that it's far more respectable, to me, to see someone who can gush about 300 records on their shelves, and get excited about each one... than it is to see someone who's got 3,000 that they can't really keep track of.  It always blows my mind to read about people accidentally pre-ordering something they were already waiting on, or finding a good buy in a record shop only to get home and realize they already own the record.  I'm straying off-topic here, you guys don't need to be reminded that quality > quantity.  But just tracking what I get around to revisiting - even digitally - has been incredibly productive in keeping that at the forefront of my mind.)

 

I know there are lots of people with larger collections than I have, so it's just really got me wondering how many of you are actually listening to the stuff you've bought and how many are simply hoarding.  But this isn't a thread to judge.  I'll openly admit that I have some "big ticket" collectible items that I bought, mint or or sealed, that I have no intention of playing... but for those, I have additional, less rare variants that are way less valuable, and those see rotation.  I'll never be that guy but the hoarders remind me of the people I've seen in Facebook groups who actually buy records and leave them in the mailer, sealed, just to say they own it.  (Oblivious to what record was actually shipped to them, or what vinyl LP got packaged inside the sleeve, or how playable those discs are.  It's more about the ownership, I guess.  These same people really ought to get into NFTs or something.)

 

Hoping for a variety of answers for those still partaking in the community.  Would be cool to hear from some people who've been collecting for 10+ years compared to some of the fresher faces with newer, modest collections so far.

 

Or just post Shaq gifs.  The threads in Everything Else are such a dice roll.

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I'll step up with a reasonably genuine response before the T-swizzle gifs.

 

Been collecting 25ish years technically, but more "seriously" for probably 15-20 years.  I'm sitting at about 1500 in my collection.  I managed to get most of what I wanted before prices/scarcity went way overboard, so I'm at the point where I have about 15 older records on my discogs wishlist that I'm convinced I'll probably never own because of price/scarcity and most of my current record collecting is newly released music.  I still go to record stores hoping this is the day I'll run across that copy of This Desert Life for $20 bucks or something, but I find myself leaving empty handed more and more. I feel like I've reached a plateau in that respect, which is frustrating I guess but fine - it means I have a lot of what I want. 

 

I would say close to 100% of my collection has been on my turntable at some point.  I've never really been a sealed or variant collector except for the Felix Culpa (check the avatar yo) and the odd album I really love where a cool variant/remastered album/etc. came out later.  I have a shelf of test presses and I'll actually spin the 50% or so where it's only vinyl version of the album I have.  I have a cabinet below the stereo where I put new purchases and it's pretty rare that something goes upstairs (where my collection is) before I listen to it at least once - for some reason I find myself paranoid that I'll buy an album and there will be an issue with it or it won't even be the right music on it and if I don't listen to it, by the time I do it will be too late to do anything about it.  Now I'm married with two kids (brag), so you're comment that your free time vanishes isn't lost on me.  My kids like music and I've had music on the stereo whenever I can for as long as they can remember, so I can often get away with putting something on during dinner or on a weekend when we are all hanging out or playing or whatever (and if I can get Encanto or Frozen or whatever out of the stereo), but I'm obviously limited in what I can put on in terms of intensity/profanity.  I don't listen to anything THAT intense, but there are certainly things that I wouldn't play when my kids are around or that would cause my wife to suggest I turn to something else.  I also can't really play something brand new unless I'm certain the content is OK (found that out the hard way a couple of times).  That type of album also isn't ideal for listening to after everyone's gone to sleep, so they might sit in my "queue" for a while until those blissful few times when everyone else is gone.  Which happens maybe 1-2 times a month and I definitely have to make it a priority to listen to them.  But if I know I'm going to have an afternoon to myself, I get a little excited (lame) because I know I have the opportunity to listen to certain stuff I can't generally spin with the kids around and at a volume that would not otherwise be allowed.

 

I do make an effort to thumb through my collection on a fairly regular basis (maybe 2-3 times a month) to see if I feel like listening to anything I haven't spun in a while.  If I haven't listened to it, I'll try to figure out if I have a good reason and if I don't I should probably listen to it to try to figure out if I even need to still own it.  I have tried to sell some stuff recently (with pretty good success) and when COVID first started I did do a pretty heavy weeding of records so that I have about two shelves worth I'll trade into the local shop when I get around to it.  I have a very small collection of 7" and I can't really imagine bringing those out to listen to anytime soon, but it's bands I like and they don't take up much space, so I'll keep them around.  Anything I really like (like, say, MCR's Conventional Weapons set) I've since just purchased digitally and I'll do that if I want to listen.

 

I do have some stuff I bought before you could easily listen to every album to see if you like it and maybe I put on and didn't listen to the whole thing, but I keep around because I think if I revisit it maybe it will click.  Prog rock and old folk records were my two go-tos when I was studying in college/law school. I don't find myself in the mood for that stuff as much anymore when I get time to myself, though I still genuinely enjoy it, so I'll get back around to listening to it eventually, I think.  

 

There's certainly an argument to be made that given my current lifestyle, vinyl collecting no longer makes all that much sense, and I completely understand that argument except that it's the best and I love it.  Plus, as I think I said in the other thread you mentioned, if I didn't collect vinyl I would have to take up coin collecting or parkour or serial killing or something and I really like listening to music and supporting musical artists, so I guess it's as good a thing to waste my money and time on as any.

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good question

 

im at about 3K and been collecting for ~15 years pretty hardcore from minute one. I am trying to whittle down the variants but probably have around 200 duplicates.

 

Less than half of my collection has seen the needle, although Im working on playing a record a day and maybe will eventually have played everything I own (doubtful). i do love the intimacy it. Im lucky because I have a dedicated space for it and I can play anything I want within reason, but 

 

Im not a framer nor do I want to keep things mint. I do use this hobby as a way to support artists and shops (and labels like graveface and joyful noise) and so I feel that the physical product has emotional value for me. I listen to most of my music at work or in the car, but it makes me feel more connected to know I own the physical media. Silly, perhaps, but we all have our things and I dont hunt or fish, own a boat or motorcycle, and it keeps me from buying other dumb stuff.

 

my kids have really taken to collecting as well, so thats fun, and Im letting them pick off pieces here and there.

 

Ill almost never play a 7" unless its one of the kooky ones that I find at JNR or some of the vanity presses.

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Big thanks to both of you for responding in such detail, that’s exactly what I was looking for.

 

For @dawhizz, I’m truly impressed you’ve managed to integrate so much listening into your current lifestyle.  I think that’s great.  Growing up, my dad would always have a CD on the stereo or sound system and eventually I got to be an age where I could explore that for myself.  Granted, CDs are a little more durable than vinyl – and less valuable, for the most part – it was really cool getting to immerse myself in my dad’s tastes, even if he only owned a very humble collection of CDs across even less genres.  Seems to me like you’d be able to introduce your kids into a variety of fresh sounds if your collection is that large, and that’s really cool.

 

You’ve also really got the right idea about thumbing through the collection every few months to seek out the fluff.  These days I’m pretty particular with what I buy, but at the same time, my tastes aren’t what they were 10 years ago.  So while I do have some nostalgic albums and genres, like you said, there still comes a point where I need to ask myself “look, even for a trip down memory lane, you haven’t had any desire to spin this record in 2 full years.  Do you actually need it?”  I find myself at odds with… myself, really, over that question sometimes.  Which I’ll address below.  Point is, I think it’s super healthy to keep the collection clean and relevant.  As someone who still explores a lot of new albums from bands still making music – and new bands entirely – my record shelf can sometimes feel like a snake.  This organic thing that shifts and breathes on its own, never at a set number.  Never staying stagnant or bloating in size, but rather shedding its skin of stuff I just can’t see myself enjoying outside of the nostalgic Spotify stream once a blue moon.

 

@shamrocks, 3,000 is pretty nuts.  I can’t see why such a large chunk of your collection isn’t played.  You’ve only been amassing vinyl for a few years more than I, but you’re nearly double the size.  I can’t imagine.  Like you, there are times when I’ll get an album and it just won’t be the right time to throw it on.  Maybe I’ll have burnt myself out on it digitally before the vinyl finally ships 3 months later, or it’s clearly a summer kind of record but it arrives in the middle of winter.  I do like to crack open my orders to make sure nothing is chipped, or that I didn’t get 2 A/B records by mistake, and so on… but like you said, listening to music - in general - has been a really intimate thing for as long as I can remember.  Ritualistic, start to finish, even when I was a kid with CDs.  Over the years I have gotten pretty good at identifying what kind of mood I’m in when I throw an album on.  Some hours of the night, drone or shoegaze just scratches all the right itches, and I’ll decide to finally take out that random ambient record that showed up a month ago.

 

But also like you said - and to tie in with the internal debate above - sometimes it’s just nice to own this piece of art that brings you joy.  The same satisfaction could probably be obtained from a cassette or CD, sure, but for me I feel like vinyl has always been the pinnacle of hands-on physical media.  To know that I have access to this album that means so much to me, just a few feet away, with huge liner notes that I can immerse myself in, presented in a premium gatefold or box set… nothing beats it.  Anyone exclusively streaming their music is just missing out as far as I’m concerned.  So every now and then I do find myself asking if I’m owning something just for the sake of owning it all these years, or if I actually value the music and will find myself listening to it.

 

It’s no secret that I often talk down on nostalgia-core.  I think it’s a slippery slope to just amass every album that’s ever been appealing to you.  That’s why I really strive to monitor what I actually own and play, these days, to keep everything “relevant” I guess.  But sometimes I’ll have some old album that I was so proud to cop, or it’ll have the perfect variant to match the art, and I haven’t listened to the band in years… but I can’t quite bring myself to part with it.  I think it’s the comfort of having it, or the potential discomfort of knowing the packaging is awesome, the record is pressed great, it’s valuable, it’s out of print… and the one day I may itch to play it, I’ll begrudgingly play my digital copy and sigh, thinking “yeah… I used to own that one.”

 

So I’ve gotten better about that, for sure.  And like you, I really enjoy supporting the labels and artists that I know and love, when I can.  I think that’s hugely important, and now more than ever with touring being in such a wobbly state.

 

Anyways, much appreciate the insight from both you.  And am relieved to hear I’m not the only one who sees little to no value in a pile of 7”s. 🤷‍♂️

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do you all use anything special to catalogue everything? i have a 49 page word document that i search when i find something ive been looking for but i cant remember if I already have it (anyone else?),  discogs for pricing and CDPedia (https://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/) as a database, which is pretty customizable and I recommend

 

Theres no way I could start doing it now, but im grateful I have been keeping up with it 

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Derek, i definitely open and examine everything, ill change out sleeves sometimes if its something that deserves a MoFi sleeve, but so many times its somthing older that Ive heard a ton or something I ordered 6 months ago, like you said. Im trying not to listen to new orders until they arrive but thats really tough for records that you are excited for. All in all its not that big a deal but it definitely impacts the experience

 

I do chronicle most of my listening here https://www.instagram.com/thedrizzleisin/

 

(and looking at the number of posts it makes me wonder if maybe I have spun more than half the collection since ive only been on there for 6 years or so)

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I would consider myself much more of a casual collector. Been at it for about 10 years and currently have about 225 records, though I'm consistently selling/thinning down so overall I've probably had about 4-500. 99.9% of it has been played at least once (one record came from Europe totally smashed like the UPS truck ran over it before delivering). Also, I'm not a variant collector.

 

I try not to have a backlog. Usually I wait until a few orders come in and I'll do a batch cleaning and then I'll play them.

 

As far as the back catalog goes, at least once a month I'll sit in front of the Kallax and see what hasn't been played in a while or if anything's worth parting with. As much as I love collecting and this hobby, I don't want to reach "hoarder" status. Plus to me, selling records funds new record purchases so it's like a revolving door.

 

I do agree about free time vanishing. I'm coming up on 5 years since I've met my (now) wife and I've definitely cut down on my listening time over the years. To me, it makes it a little more special when I do get the time to put something on. Then, however, it becomes very similar to the "spending 2 hours just finding something to watch on Netflix" scenario.

 

 

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On the nostalgia core topic, I’ve definitely tried to check myself against the knee-jerk buy because “I loved that album in high school!”Now sometimes there’s not a lot of lead time between when I hear something’s out and when I have to decide to pull the trigger, but I find more often than that if I actually sit down and listen to “thing I used to love”, I’ll know very quickly whether or not 42-year-old me needs to own it and it seems like most of the time the answer is not so much, although those times when the answer is a resounding “YES” are pretty satisfying. 

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Between my wife and I, we have 1400-1500 pieces in the collection, including 7"s. I've started actively collecting in 2006 or so. I've gone though spells of going crazy with buying, and other times of buying nothing for months for whatever reason. Busy with life, other hobbies, or whatever. 

 

I would say almost 100% has been played at least once, aside from about 15 newer purchases we have yet to spin, and some random 7"s that were bonuses/add-ons from trades and labels. We keep the new stuff we haven't listened to on a separate shelf, so we can definitely listen to it before it gets filed into place.

 

The vast majority was mine prior to us getting together, so we are actually making a point of listening to EVERYTHING. She has a much smaller collection that I did when we combined them, but there were still quite a few I wasn't super familiar with, which was cool.

 

Despite all of the negatives surrounding the pandemic, it's definitely given us more time to actually listen to our records. "Date nights" have consisted of us taking turns picking records, and listening to stuff while we play games and have a few beers. We too were in the same boat of not having time due to work, having a young kid, etc prior to the pandemic, and our free time would be spent going out or whatever. Turns out, we just needed to make the time to just hang out, listen to music, and have fun at home. Not only have both of us learned more about bands or specific albums from each other, but it's allowed me to revisit a ton of my own records I haven't actually listened to years. It has also reminded me that I need to start selling variants off. 

 

It's been a fun project, despite her aversion to most hardcore and metal (a lot of those sit in the separate "need to listen to" queue on the shelf, so we don't forget them when the mood is right for throwing down and doing some spin kicks in the living room). We went in alphabetical order for quite awhile, but ended up mixing it up a bit. 


There's nothing in the collection I avoid listening to due to value or scarcity. Nothing is sealed, except for a few duplicate pressings I acquired at thrift stores and didn't want to pass up for a few bucks. I even tend to give the test pressings I own a spin over the "actual" releases, because why not? Sure, I am a collector and enjoy the value/condition... and do take great care of my records. But what is my kid going to do with these 90s hardcore test pressings? I might as well enjoy them while I have them, and just staring at them on a shelf only does so much. 

Edited by mitchard
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I would say only about 75% of my collection has seen the turntable, and I own ~ 750 titles on vinyl.  That's not to say I don't have the intention of spinning everything, the practicality of it just doesn't seem to come together.  I'm an avid collector of many different things from toys to posters and so on...and a downfall for me for about 5 years or so was buying up every niche movie soundtrack I could.  In reality, many of those have never seen my turntable.  When I finally get some alone time late on a Saturday night and can spin a record while enjoying a cocktail, the reality is I'm not clamoring to spin the OST to The Howling.  If anything, I'll watch The Howling - know what I mean?  So the soundtrack stuff is a heavy contributor to the unspun segment of my collection.

 

Another heavy contributor to my non-spinning is a compulsion toward owning an artist's entire catalogue.  I'll discover a band and dig what I'm hearing,  then I'll ravenously scour the internet to get the best deal I can on everything they've ever released.  And the reality is a lot of times I heard those artists at a moment that it "clicked" and then never re-discover that fascination with their sound that prompted me down that path to begin with. 

 

I definitely fall in the segment of folks whose free time has vanished.   I'm 38, with a stepson in 6th grade who needs to be shuttled around, a puppy that is being trained, and a house/yard that constantly needs something fixed or maintained.  I work a minimum of 9 hours a day and I have a 1 hour commute each way.  If I get to spin records once a week, that is a lot.  Often times it has diminished to once or twice a month, but when I do sit down to spin stuff, I binge spin for hours.  Now that we've moved into a house, my record player is in a living room right below my kid's bedroom, so the noise definitely intrudes on him more than when we were in a condo.  And a lot of the stuff I listen to isn't palatable to the average person, so outside of Christmas music (which my family even complains about but I enjoy), there isn't much I can spin that doesn't get moans and groans.

 

Despite all that, I still love having something tangible and supporting an artist.  My collection definitely needs to get under control, and I definitely struggle with slowing down and not ordering everything I want.  Make no qualms about it, it is an addiction for me.  If my wife only knew what I spent on my hobbies....

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On 1/7/2022 at 5:19 AM, shamrocks said:

do you all use anything special to catalogue everything? i have a 49 page word document that i search when i find something ive been looking for but i cant remember if I already have it (anyone else?),  discogs for pricing and CDPedia (https://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/) as a database, which is pretty customizable and I recommend

 

Theres no way I could start doing it now, but im grateful I have been keeping up with it 

I looked into that just for kicks.  I can see the value in it but even giving it a test run, it seemed really unintuitive for me.  (And aesthetically outdated by a few years, but that's neither here nor there.)  A dark theme for it, and connectivity to Discogs for vinyl would be awesome.  To answer your question, I keep a spreadsheet live, daily, with a bunch of behind-the-scenes formulas I've tinkered with over the years to cleanly monitor my incoming records, pre-orders, stuff I ordered but haven't been charged for, daily changes to Discogs values, and how much I've been spending.  It's a labor of love but there's something very satisfying about keeping it synched up.

 

On 1/7/2022 at 5:25 AM, shamrocks said:

Derek, i definitely open and examine everything, ill change out sleeves sometimes if its something that deserves a MoFi sleeve, but so many times its somthing older that Ive heard a ton or something I ordered 6 months ago, like you said. Im trying not to listen to new orders until they arrive but thats really tough for records that you are excited for. All in all its not that big a deal but it definitely impacts the experience

Not only does the excitement make it difficult to wait until new releases are in hand before checking them out, but this "new normal" 4-9 month turnaround for vinyl pre-orders is simply brutal.  I'd love to do that and I respect anyone who does but I've been hyped on music way, way longer than I've been into vinyl, so it's always about the day 1 experience for me.  Every once in a while I'll stay up on a Thursday night to hear a new release – if it hasn't leaked – but my Friday mornings are super quiet at work, so I've been soaking in new releases then and it's working for me.  Usually it builds the hype even more, if I know a sweet record packaging / variant is tied to what I'm enjoying digitally... even if I have to wait another month or two to have it show up.

 

On 1/7/2022 at 5:32 AM, marc32137 said:

I would consider myself much more of a casual collector. Been at it for about 10 years and currently have about 225 records, though I'm consistently selling/thinning down so overall I've probably had about 4-500. 99.9% of it has been played at least once (one record came from Europe totally smashed like the UPS truck ran over it before delivering). Also, I'm not a variant collector.

 

I try not to have a backlog. Usually I wait until a few orders come in and I'll do a batch cleaning and then I'll play them.

 

As far as the back catalog goes, at least once a month I'll sit in front of the Kallax and see what hasn't been played in a while or if anything's worth parting with. As much as I love collecting and this hobby, I don't want to reach "hoarder" status. Plus to me, selling records funds new record purchases so it's like a revolving door.

225 records over 10 years is impressively modest.  Not to come off condescending when I ask this, but do you normally just stick to a handful of genres?  Or do you make it a point to only own your absolute favorite record from an artist?  I feel like I would struggle immensely if you put a gun to my head and forced me to reduce my collection down to 225... which is still a sizable chunk of vinyl, for sure.  I think a lot of us can easily stray off course when we see r hear people with 2,000, 3,000, 4,000+ records.  We can use those numbers to justify the fact we "only" have 800 records... or - worse yet - look at them as ambitions.  I absolutely do not want to be a hoarder, either.  I've always told myself that it'll be "too much" if I get to a point where I can't speak to certain records drawn at random from my shelf.  Right now you could draw anything off my shelf and I could at least tell you the artist, album name, variant, and describe the general vibe of the record.  If I can't do that, it's not worth taking up the space on the shelf, if you ask me.

 

On 1/7/2022 at 6:32 AM, dawhizz said:

On the nostalgia core topic, I’ve definitely tried to check myself against the knee-jerk buy because “I loved that album in high school!”Now sometimes there’s not a lot of lead time between when I hear something’s out and when I have to decide to pull the trigger, but I find more often than that if I actually sit down and listen to “thing I used to love”, I’ll know very quickly whether or not 42-year-old me needs to own it and it seems like most of the time the answer is not so much, although those times when the answer is a resounding “YES” are pretty satisfying. 

What were some of the "YES" answers if you don't mind me asking?

I'll do the same, especially with stuff from 2003-2007 since that was a sort of strong "musical awakening" stage of my life.  But my approach is streaming it while I shower, cook, or clean... and if I find myself wanting to resume it after the task – instead of just hearing a few songs to rattle the ol' nostalgia cage and get my fix – then I'll consider the buy.

 

On 1/7/2022 at 7:15 AM, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

not often, my record player / records are in my office, and the balance between meeting and non-meeting time for work has significantly skewed in the wrong direction 😅 and when im not working I dont come in my office because  its where I work and fuck that

Same setup for me, which could very well be a contributor to why I'm not spinning stuff as much as I should be, myself.  I don't really have the space for a designated music room but perhaps one of these days.

 

On 1/7/2022 at 10:01 AM, mitchard said:

Between my wife and I, we have 1400-1500 pieces in the collection, including 7"s. I've started actively collecting in 2006 or so. I've gone though spells of going crazy with buying, and other times of buying nothing for months for whatever reason. Busy with life, other hobbies, or whatever. 

 

I would say almost 100% has been played at least once, aside from about 15 newer purchases we have yet to spin, and some random 7"s that were bonuses/add-ons from trades and labels. We keep the new stuff we haven't listened to on a separate shelf, so we can definitely listen to it before it gets filed into place.

 

The vast majority was mine prior to us getting together, so we are actually making a point of listening to EVERYTHING. She has a much smaller collection that I did when we combined them, but there were still quite a few I wasn't super familiar with, which was cool.

 

Despite all of the negatives surrounding the pandemic, it's definitely given us more time to actually listen to our records. "Date nights" have consisted of us taking turns picking records, and listening to stuff while we play games and have a few beers. We too were in the same boat of not having time due to work, having a young kid, etc prior to the pandemic, and our free time would be spent going out or whatever. Turns out, we just needed to make the time to just hang out, listen to music, and have fun at home. Not only have both of us learned more about bands or specific albums from each other, but it's allowed me to revisit a ton of my own records I haven't actually listened to years. It has also reminded me that I need to start selling variants off. 

 

It's been a fun project, despite her aversion to most hardcore and metal (a lot of those sit in the separate "need to listen to" queue on the shelf, so we don't forget them when the mood is right for throwing down and doing some spin kicks in the living room). We went in alphabetical order for quite awhile, but ended up mixing it up a bit. 


There's nothing in the collection I avoid listening to due to value or scarcity. Nothing is sealed, except for a few duplicate pressings I acquired at thrift stores and didn't want to pass up for a few bucks. I even tend to give the test pressings I own a spin over the "actual" releases, because why not? Sure, I am a collector and enjoy the value/condition... and do take great care of my records. But what is my kid going to do with these 90s hardcore test pressings? I might as well enjoy them while I have them, and just staring at them on a shelf only does so much. 

Way cool.  I really admire the quality time that you and the wife make for one another, and how much she'll accompany your vinyl time outside of the extreme / metal albums.  To your last point, as cornball as it is to admit, I think some of my more coveted records have been really nice to own – even without gloating or flexing them online – and have totally risen in value.  I'm not treating them like stocks or anything, nor do I expect my loved ones to retire off mint, rare Converge variants that I may leave them, but there is definitely an odd appeal there, for me.  Fortunately that's such a tiny % of my collection and I absolutely do not drop big money on super rare variants of stuff I already have, these days.  But just an interesting point to consider, I guess.  Like if I have a clear-with-splatter variant of something that's /25, and people pay $300+ for, but I also have a black copy that's valued at $15, and sounds even better on the turntable... your take is "eh, you only live once, who gives a shit about these anyway?", and you'd get around to playing both.  Whereas I'm guilty of falling into the collector's trope, thinking that I'm going to strike it big someday - or something - by stashing away some rare 12"s that won't ever see a needle.  It's dumb even writing it out.  And it'd be a different story of there weren't readily available copies for cheap... not trying to deprive myself or anyone else from owning the album, you know?  Just an interesting "collector tendency" to consider as a part of the hobby™.

 

8 hours ago, hallowken78 said:

I would say only about 75% of my collection has seen the turntable, and I own ~ 750 titles on vinyl.  That's not to say I don't have the intention of spinning everything, the practicality of it just doesn't seem to come together.  I'm an avid collector of many different things from toys to posters and so on...and a downfall for me for about 5 years or so was buying up every niche movie soundtrack I could.  In reality, many of those have never seen my turntable.  When I finally get some alone time late on a Saturday night and can spin a record while enjoying a cocktail, the reality is I'm not clamoring to spin the OST to The Howling.  If anything, I'll watch The Howling - know what I mean?  So the soundtrack stuff is a heavy contributor to the unspun segment of my collection.

 

Another heavy contributor to my non-spinning is a compulsion toward owning an artist's entire catalogue.  I'll discover a band and dig what I'm hearing,  then I'll ravenously scour the internet to get the best deal I can on everything they've ever released.  And the reality is a lot of times I heard those artists at a moment that it "clicked" and then never re-discover that fascination with their sound that prompted me down that path to begin with. 

Yeah... for your first paragraph there, you 100% captured why I very, very rarely buy up OSTs.  I think there are exceptions to the rule, don't get me wrong, and the presentation / packaging is really an added allure... but I always wonder how often people legitimately sit down and listen to a full album of film or video game scores instead of watching said movie or playing said game.  I know they're out there – the people who genuinely go hard to Hans Zimmer – but I genuinely and wholeheartedly feel like most people buying OSTs don't made it through the B/C sides very often.  (Sorry to the soundtrack fiends that have every Mondo release.)  There's nothing wrong with being super passionate about a movie, game, show, etc. and wanting to consume merchandise from it, but I don't trust myself, personally, to buy the score for anything that entertains me.  I just know it wouldn't get played, and to top it off, I feel like they're typically priced higher than traditional band LPs more often than not.

 

I think we've all been there, regarding your "ravenous consumption" of bands you're into.  I know I'm starting to sound [even more] like an elitist prick and I want to reiterate, to any keyboard warriors reading this, that this is all my opinion, and that you're encouraged to buy what makes you happy, but I feel like one of the tell-tale signs of a newbie collector is when they're running rampant to own every potential release for a given artist.  I say that because that was me when I first started.  I needed every variant possible, and the b-sides, and the demo tape.  (Because I'm definitely going to opt for those stripped-down, tin-can versions of the studio songs over the album version.)  I'm not saying that those versions aren't cool to check out once or twice, but to physically own?  And multiple variants of?  To each their own but I can think of no bigger waste of space.  But this is also coming from a guy who's dicey on live records, so, your mileage may definitely... especially considering how much some people love live recordings.  Point is, I feel like a lot of people get swept away when they find themselves in a honeymoon phase with an artist... whether it's hearing them for the first time, or getting caught in the hype of a new release that's raising the bar.  Or I guess, alternatively, a band can wow you early on in their catalog but continue to release stinkers that you should feel obligated to buy, for the sake of saying you own their full discography or whatever, I guess.  But sometimes you just have to put your foot down.  Kudos to you for already realizing that, ha.  I feel like that's half the battle.

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10 hours ago, Derek™ said:

 

What were some of the "YES" answers if you don't mind me asking?

I'll do the same, especially with stuff from 2003-2007 since that was a sort of strong "musical awakening" stage of my life.  But my approach is streaming it while I shower, cook, or clean... and if I find myself wanting to resume it after the task – instead of just hearing a few songs to rattle the ol' nostalgia cage and get my fix – then I'll consider the buy. 

A couple I can recall offhand where a reissue was announced and I needed to listen a bit before I decided to purchase and ended up picking it up:

-Soul Coughing & Beck’s Odelay album - Albums I loved in high school and wasn’t sure would hold up but on relisten definitely did. 
-Juliana Hatfield’s first album - I owned most of her other early albums and trended more to those but in relisten found a lot I liked and it kind of completed an early JH collection so I purchased. 
 

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Hello, long-time lurker here.
 
I joined the boards in 2008 -- navigating the Virgil craft beer/VC label days as a clueless 14 year old -- and I somehow continue to follow everything here into my late twenties, for better or worse. Derek asks an excellent question that addresses some things I've recently been wondering, as well. Happy to contribute to the discussion on this one.
 
Over the years my collection has probably fluctuated between 250-350 records. I wouldn't consider myself a casual collector but more of a conscious collector (barf). I purchase and sell and exchange very often. After collecting for such a long time, I'm surprised that my collection hasn't reached the four-digit mark (someday I hope that it does!) However, for some reason, I've always been wary about purchasing records I wouldn't listen to and getting rid of records I don't listen to. Even as a kid, and seeing my regular shelves (I had no clue about IKEA) fill up with three or four of the same record in different colors, I thought about how silly it was to collect in such a way -- especially when I found out adults that were much older would buy a Blink 182 variant for silly, silly prices.
 
As I get older, I am absolutely becoming more of an "occasion-based" listener. Collecting and listening to records requires so much presence -- I play the records that I think best accompany the moment or the season or whatever. I don't have any kids and I work from home so I have all the time in the world to listen to records. I actually make it a priority every day to wake up early before my girlfriend and put on a record or two while making coffee. It's definitely very ritualistic for me.
 
With that idea in mind -- I've done my best to clear up any records that I don't really see myself (or ever found myself) listening to within that "ritual". Anything I take the time to listen to and enjoy on my record player is usually calming or relaxing. Jazz, ambient, older country/folk, downtempo, deconstructed club, slowcore, etc. My turntable gets the most love in the morning or later at night -- and both of those times usually call for relaxing music. 
 
The most notable thing I've done to my collection is get rid of my heavy records. This makes me sound old and lame but whatever. I'm sure that sometimes these records sound much better on vinyl, but I usually listen to heavy music in transit or at the gym or through headphones. I've seen some really valuable records come and go from my shelf, and sometimes I kick myself for letting them go, but they almost always fund other purchases and can mostly be replaced with more common pressings if I were to seek them out down the road.
 
Another thing that holds me back and helps weed out the unnecessary records is the quality of music. This sounds incredibly dumb to ask but I question if I actually enjoy the entire record before purchasing. Does it just have one or two good songs or can you throw the whole thing on and fall in love with it? Can you get lost in the entire album or do you take it off the platter after Side A? Within reason, I pride myself on being able to take out any of the records on my shelf, actually knowing and enjoying the entire record, and recognizing a good time to listen to it.

My best friend just got a new job at a record store and comes home every day with a handful of new records. He has a brilliant taste in music and an immaculate collection, but I often question if he really enjoys the whole record or just enjoys the idea that he can add another record to his collection. Is it special to him or just another number?

Anyway. I assure you my collection isn't 100% up to this criteria -- and typing all of this up made me sound like a huge dork-- but I would say I actually listen to 70-80% of my collection throughout the year. And as I continue to add to it, I'm excited to hopefully feel the same amount of pride in it as a much older adult. At the end of the day, this is a deeply flawed, very wasteful, very incredibly frustrating, expensive hobby -- some mindfulness probably goes a long way.
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Awesome post, Indi.  I'm impressed you've been around so long – I do recognize the avatar but your meager post count definitely explains why I feel like I haven't seen you in a ton of threads.

I relate to a lot of your sentiments that you've taken the time to share.  I absolutely love ambient, drone, slowcore, contemporary classical, and minimal stuff in the evenings.  It's so good.  I'm not quite yet at a point where I'm willing to abandon my "heavier" albums, but I do think they have a time and a place.  I completely understand your take, though... seems very logical to me if you're exclusively saving those genres for instances that you're not at home, in front of the turntable.

There are really 3 things I wanted to touch on and add to, from your post.

The first is the "ritualistic" nature of listening... or, for me, getting more bang out of my buck when I can pair an album with a time of day [or night], or season.  There are records that absolutely shine brighter in the winter, fall, summer, etc.  There's nothing set in stone that says I can't throw on Bohren & der Club of Gore in the middle of a bustling summer afternoon... but I'd be a fool to deny how much better it is on a cold evening with rain outside the window.  In recent years I feel like I've really been more conscious of when certain artists and albums just feel right to revisit.  And if done correctly, I feel like I'm rediscovering them for the first time, or even appreciating an added layer to their sound.  I know that probably reads a little dramatic, but it's true.  Some artists I won't touch for nearly a year – they'll lay dormant, in hibernation – and then I'll just feel the itch for their genre, or something in the air will compel to dig out their records, and it just hits the spot.  I'm such a big believer in that kind of stuff, now more than ever.  I've come to accept that there's a lot of stuff in my collection that I'm not in the mood to spin year round – and realistically, how could I be, with so much? – so this balancing act not only allows the opportunity to appreciate a lot of my favorites in rotation, but also heightens their replay value at times.  Can't tell you how many times I've texted friends with mutual tastes with something along the lines of "Friendly reminder that –album– still fucks" or "How do I always forget just how good –band– is?"

Music discovery.  I'm a little choosy with what I want to commit to exploring these days, and don't really find myself cruising internet radio stations or Spotify mixes to find the next "big thing".  I feel like I'm in a really healthy spot where I have a wealth of music I know and enjoy, but also an appetite for new sounds and releases from the bands I love, while also being open to new ones.  It's a balancing act for sure.  What it ultimately results in is a sit-down with a Spotify stream, initially, to determine if the album is for me.  I'll check out recommendations from friends, "RIYL" posts, year-end lists, comment sections on random music sites or social media, etc.  That's sort of the framework for sitting down with the Spotify stream, and going from there.  If I like what I'm hearing, I'll make it a point to download the album just so I have it.  Sometimes I'll even throw a buck or two at the artist's bandcamp to keep the album in my library for future downloads, FLAC, and so on.  But from there, if I find myself revisiting the record, I begin to assess whether or not it's truly consistent... and that leads me to the third point of agreement with you:

Album quality.  I really don't see the point in even keeping downloads of records with 1-2 good cuts, but forgettable filler otherwise – couldn't imagine that problem with vinyl and shelf space.  I'll go through and periodically snip those kind of records from my digital library, in an effort to keep things relevant.  Since implementing the above "Spotify scope" approach to new music, this is way less of a practice in recent years; I think I'm getting better at hearing a stream for the first time and determining if it's really gonna' be worth seeking out and dedicating hard-drive space to, long term.  On paper I know it's not really a bit commitment to hoard downloads, and digital space isn't the issue.  But as someone who had a sprawling music library in college, with so much of it that I just never touched or found myself in the mood for... I don't see the point.

So those restrictions and considerations are really ramped up when it comes time to buy vinyl.  I have no doubt that there are people out there who are blown away by an album's singles, but nonplussed by the rest of the record, and yet still commit to picking it up on vinyl.  And if that's their MO, I'm not knocking 'em.  But like you said... I've never been about tallying +1 to the overall count, just for the sake of having a larger library.  If there's a record with only 1-2 good cuts, I'll revisit those tracks on Spotify or something, to sort of "get them out of my system"... because I'm not going to kid myself that I'll sit down with the full record if I owned it on vinyl.  And the idea of playing one side of a double LP, getting bored, and shelving it for something else is just not for me.  Really not worth it just to say I own those 1-2 good tracks on wax.  But, I am also a bit of a full-album purist – a big reason vinyl works for me – and never hop around tracks or end a listen short.  There are plenty of people out there who do, I'm sure, and end up having an impromptu DJ session when they sit down to listen to their vinyl.  Nothing wrong with that, but just not an approach I take... and my wallet thanks me.

Anyway, what a winded post, sorry.  I know that this isn't a popular thread between the length of these responses and the general unpleasant reality that a lot of people aren't willing to face, in regards to collection size vs. playtime.  Just wanted to say thanks for everyone taking the time to reply, and remind everyone that we're all dorks here.

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59 minutes ago, Derek™ said:

I relate to a lot of your sentiments that you've taken the time to share.  I absolutely love ambient, drone, slowcore, contemporary classical, and minimal stuff in the evenings.  It's so good.  I'm not quite yet at a point where I'm willing to abandon my "heavier" albums, but I do think they have a time and a place.  I completely understand your take, though... seems very logical to me if you're exclusively saving those genres for instances that you're not at home, in front of the turntable.

Thanks, and heard! I know I'm in the minority re: keeping heavy albums. I'd say I'm actually actively listening to music for atleast 6-8 hours every day and quite a few of those hours are filled with heavy music. It's what I grew up on and I believe that I'll continue to appreciate and crave heavier and heavier sounds. Just don't really think those belong on my turntable (I'm sure my apartment neighbors appreciate this, as well.) I'd rather crank them in headphones.

 

1 hour ago, Derek™ said:

The first is the "ritualistic" nature of listening... or, for me, getting more bang out of my buck when I can pair an album with a time of day [or night], or season.  There are records that absolutely shine brighter in the winter, fall, summer, etc.  There's nothing set in stone that says I can't throw on Bohren & der Club of Gore in the middle of a bustling summer afternoon... but I'd be a fool to deny how much better it is on a cold evening with rain outside the window.  In recent years I feel like I've really been more conscious of when certain artists and albums just feel right to revisit.  And if done correctly, I feel like I'm rediscovering them for the first time, or even appreciating an added layer to their sound.  I know that probably reads a little dramatic, but it's true.  Some artists I won't touch for nearly a year – they'll lay dormant, in hibernation – and then I'll just feel the itch for their genre, or something in the air will compel to dig out their records, and it just hits the spot.  I'm such a big believer in that kind of stuff, now more than ever.  I've come to accept that there's a lot of stuff in my collection that I'm not in the mood to spin year round – and realistically, how could I be, with so much? – so this balancing act not only allows the opportunity to appreciate a lot of my favorites in rotation, but also heightens their replay value at times.  Can't tell you how many times I've texted friends with mutual tastes with something along the lines of "Friendly reminder that –album– still fucks" or "How do I always forget just how good –band– is?"

100% -- actually thrilled you brought up Bohren (great esoteric music guy™ example) as their discography gathers dust on my shelves until those rainy, dark moments. But when those moments happen, I'm basically salivating at the chance to throw those records on the platter. This also kind of brings up the seasonality of music that I only scratched the surface of. I always, always recommend people start organizing their music into seasons -- this is the best pairing for vinyl imo.

I promise I'm not so starkly neurotic, but it's surprising how much more enjoyable it makes music listening for me. In the summer, I'll throw on my OG pressing of Siamese Dream and it's like I'm hearing the record for the first time again -- waiting all year for that moment and experiencing it again gives me the chills. 

 

1 hour ago, Derek™ said:

Music discovery.  I'm a little choosy with what I want to commit to exploring these days, and don't really find myself cruising internet radio stations or Spotify mixes to find the next "big thing".  I feel like I'm in a really healthy spot where I have a wealth of music I know and enjoy, but also an appetite for new sounds and releases from the bands I love, while also being open to new ones.  It's a balancing act for sure.  What it ultimately results in is a sit-down with a Spotify stream, initially, to determine if the album is for me.  I'll check out recommendations from friends, "RIYL" posts, year-end lists, comment sections on random music sites or social media, etc.  That's sort of the framework for sitting down with the Spotify stream, and going from there.  If I like what I'm hearing, I'll make it a point to download the album just so I have it.  Sometimes I'll even throw a buck or two at the artist's bandcamp to keep the album in my library for future downloads, FLAC, and so on. 

When I love a record or artist, I *really* love the record or artist and tend to obsessively listen until burnt out (or the seasons change lol). So much so that I often step back after some time and feel like I've listened to everything ever released ever. Or, ironically, painted myself into a corner by assigning albums strictly to certain moments/seasons. This is all entirely false but forces me to listen to online radio to discover new artists and albums, which generally is a really great thing. I'm usually pretty good at staying up to date on spotify releases but then I remember that those don't even come close to releases that only go through Bandcamp or Soundcloud or Youtube. It's overwhelming! It is also a wonderful reminder that there are hundreds of thousands of records that you haven't heard or you will never listen to unless you seek them out -- best part of being passionate about consuming music.

 

1 hour ago, Derek™ said:

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone taking the time to reply, and remind everyone that we're all dorks here.

All dorks!

Anyway: I lurk multiple times here every day and mostly just find disappointment seeing threads about old Yellowcard releases. Seeing stuff like this is always heartwarming and a good reminder of how nuanced and enjoyable this hobby can be! Thanks for asking these questions, it's been a fun read.

PS: Here's kind of a fun example for me: I have a first pressing of As Cities Burn "Come Now Sleep" staring at me on the shelf right now. I bought it when it was finally pressed (maybe five+ years ago?) and I was waiting quite a long time to have it in my hands! I think it's a great album, the guitar work is absolutely gorgeous, and the packaging/variant is awesome -- really resonated with me as a young adult. But now? Not so much at all. I can still recognize that it's a great album and I enjoy knowing that I own it. But as I type this, I'd rather just sell it and use the money to buy a jazz record I can throw on each morning¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

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On 1/6/2022 at 11:58 PM, shamrocks said:

I listen to most of my music [...] in the car, but it makes me feel more connected to know I own the physical media.

 

 

This is honestly where I am right now, and I like knowing that I can throw on just about any record I like at any moment.

 

I have a similar collection size to Derek.

 

I do make an effort to play the majority of my records at least once before I file them away, unless it's something old that I'm super familiar with. I'd say 85-90% of my records have seen the table at least once...but only maybe about 50 of them see anything resembling any kind of normal rotation. I've mentioned before in other threads I don't listen to new albums until I receive the vinyl except in very rare circumstances (its hard lately, and honestly the recent turnaround time has kind of killed a lot of my enthusiasm for music).

 

I have a bad habit of trying to complete discographies for a lot of artists if I like a decent number of their albums even if some of them moss the mark for me. Thankfully it has actually made me really appreciate some albums I used to be more down on occasionally though.

 

I play stuff kind of sporadically and I've slowed down on buying quite a bit. I find myself less interested in a lot of newer bands and focused on keeping up with my favorites and completing those darn discographies.

Edited by MachoHommeRandallSauvage
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The thing you said about people who start families is true for me at least. I just don’t have the time or ability to listen to music between juggling the kid and putting him down for naps. Trying to flip a record while he is finishing a bottle or finally fell asleep in my arms is impossible. He is four months old as of today and will be crawling and walking before I know it, so I am in the process of figuring out what the hell to do with my records for the next few years. Such is life. 

 

I also just don’t care about music the way I did when I was 10, 15, 20. Some days I feel broken up over it, but I figure it’s just because music doesn’t have the same mystique as it used to when I was younger. I’m hoping things change.

 

To actually answer your question, I listen to every record I buy but typically only have the chance to listen to a couple records a month. I do need to sell some of the stuff I don’t need though. Why do I own like seven Sunn albums when most of them sound the same? Who knows. 

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With the new little one around, my listening habits have died down a bit. I am also currently sitting on about 1500 records. Most have seen the turntable needle. Those that haven't are things like Test Presses, or Super rare records that I happen to have another copy/version of. 

Recently I got my Dad's old collection, which is probably another 200 records. Mainly of 60s, 70s Rock/Metal stuff. Things that most people are dying to get and/or have heard plenty of times so I don't feel the need to really spin them. I do need to find a place to take them out of the boxs and store them on a shelf properly. 

Would also love to get an old "45 jukebox for the singles I got from him too, there's probably at least another 100 of those kicking around. 

I will say that I dug out the children records that he bought for me to listen to when I was a toddler (Fraggle Rock Album, Record of Nursery Rhymes, Disney's The Jungle Book on Vinyl, etc) Playing that for my kid is super rad cause he gets really into them.

In order to play stuff more while I'm working out of my home office, I've been toying around with getting another setup, but money needs to be saved and that priority is super low, so for now, I'll stick with randomly playing stuff when I'm not in the office and we are doing things like cooking or chilling in the living room. 

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1 minute ago, roadmonkey said:

Would also love to get an old "45 jukebox for the singles I got from him too, there's probably at least another 100 of those kicking around.

I'm in the middle of having an old jukebox restored — it should be at my house by the end of the month, hopefully (they started working on it in, like, May — it's been an agonizing wait). That will boost up my 7-inch listening habits considerably, because otherwise, they just sit there in a drawer like the noisy baseball cards they are.

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I'm sitting at something like 2500 albums and almost all of them have been played at least once, most of them more.  I don't really variant collect, but there are some special cases where I have a few copies of an album.  My routine is anything that shows up in the mail gets listened to pretty quickly.  Partially due to excitement and partially due to making sure the LP is in good shape or there aren't any major pressing defects.  If I get more than one release from an artist, I'll put one into the rotation and one will go into the backlog.  Mostly because I like to focus on one album per artist.

 

In regard to my regular listening habits, I usually keep ~20-40 newer LPs in my heavy rotation and then shelf them after a month or two.    I was working from home half the week before the pandemic and I've been at home full time for the last few years, so I rarely feel like I'm too behind on listening to my newer albums.  I usually do a mix of digital and vinyl throughout the work day, but sometimes it's one exclusively.    I do try to listen to a record or two after work every day though.

 

For a good portion of 2020, I was using the random feature on discogs every Sunday night and pulling out ~10 records to listen to that week.  It was a fun way to break up the monotony and to revisit albums that hadn't gotten any attention in a while.  I'm hoping to get back into doing that with some regularity. 

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Discogs says I currently have 3,805 records and I keep that pretty up to date.

99% of that has been played at least once, as new arrivals stay separate until I play them and catalog them away.

I have thinned out about 20% of my collection over the last year getting rid of variants that I've needlessly collected.

Probably play 2-3 LPs a week.  7"s are played much more often as I have a jukebox in our dinning /living room that we change out the music on every few months.

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Very interesting topic that I'll bite on. 

Started collecting in earnest around 2009 - 2010, was on dead format before here, which was a helpful community. VC is as well.

Anyway, around 1500+ in the collection, with a bulk buy or two in the wings for further sifting. Mostly crap I don't want much. Last year I gained the luxury of space, which is a big deal with records, as we all know. Was living in a NYC apartment and hadn't much more room for the collection. Family and I moved out of the apt and bought a house in another state, with a room I could have all the records in without an issue. Before the move last summer I stumbled across this article (https://blog.discogs.com/en/listen-to-your-record-collection-a-to-z/) on discogs about listening to your collection alphabetically from A-Z. I found it pretty intriguing and had planned on doing it when the year started. January 1 came around I was hesitant to start, but I finally did on 1/4 and it has been great so far. 

 

For me doing this serves the purpose of five things:

1. Further organizing and alphabetizing

2. Editing out pieces I may no longer want

3. Listing the above on discogs or elsewhere to sell

4. Seeing what needs cleaning and new inner sleeves.

5. Cracking open a few sealed pieces I've been sitting on for too long

 

When we were moving, as I was packing the records (not fun!!) I was able to organize and did much more cataloging on discogs, but even now I'm finding things I didn't know I had. I also work from home (until my NYC company says we have to be back in the office, then who knows), so am able to listen at least 6-7 hours a day, so hopefully by years end, I'll have finished. I do make exception for listening outside of the A-Z and jazz is one of the those, as well as new stuff I get, just to make sure the copy is okay, etc. But yeah, it's fun and a slog some days. Slog being when I get to LZ II that I have about twenty copies of or Bob Dylan, who I'm not the biggest fan of, but felt compelled to buy some here and there and now there are about thirty Dylan records to get through. If I desperately need to hear something, I'll resort to a CD or streaming, again outside of the A-Z. I'll check in late in the year and see if this was worth the effort. 

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