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Reaching the end of a music collection

This website has covered our upgrade obsession, but what about our obsession with buying music?

I've accumulated over 1500 CDs (have lost count) over the last 15+ years, and looking through past threads, I know that this isn't even close to what some of you have.

It seems, in the last year, that most of what I buy I don't listen to more than a couple times. Or I'm just buying replacement versions of material that I already have (like new 24 bit remastering versions). Often I'm buying artists whom I'm just not passionate about.

I remember walking out of a record store in high school with the first three records of my own - Led Zeppelin IV, Rubber Soul and Surrealistic Pillow.

I'm wondering how you guys with huge music collections keep your curiosity and interest up, and how you've dealt with reaching the "end" of a music collection.
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marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
actually i'm not keeping too much of CDs and they serve me as an information flow material. i might listen to them once or twice and than sell them. i can figure that that way i've already had arround 5...6000 cds that went though my ears and 90% of them are sold to acquire another couple of thousands and so on on on and on...
thus i can say that i'm also different from typical audiofile since my goal is to learn more about music and its different styles without even paying attention to a recording quality. i do care about recording quality of the items i collect which you should guess should be 100% unique. if anyone interested to share or explore with me shoot me an e-mail and we'll probably arrange an exchange of unique CDs.
bomarc
501 posts
 
Lately I've been burrowing through the bins of LPs in my basement--the overflow that doesn't fit on the shelf in the living room--and rediscovering some gems I hadn't heard in a long while. I've even bought some new items because I wanted to hear more by an artist I've just "dug up" from the vaults. And my collection is a lot smaller than some of those being described here. If you've got 1500 CDs, there have to be some you haven't heard in years. Give 'em a listen, and I'm sure you'll discover some "new" music.
hfloyd5ed68
12 posts
 
Don't worry. I think this happens to most people. Music we listen when we are younger tends to relate to certain significant times and occurrences in our lives and therefore hold more meaning than newer music. I have bought hundreds of records in the past few years and just a few stay in rotation. I was actually thinking of not buying any more records, but that would be even worse. Those few gems I find along the way make it worthwhile, I guess. It's kind of like playing golf and doing terrible for 17 holes and then hitting that perfect shot on the last. Besides, what would the used record store (Charlemagne in Birmingham, Alabama in my case) do without those discards I bring in?
garfish
1,840 posts
 
T; I've occasionally wondered the same thing as you are expressing. For me, the possibility of finding exciting new artists or music that I really like is what keeps me looking for and buying new CDs. As an example, this year I "discovered" Allison Krauss, bluegrass in general, Allison Moorer, and Jacintha. And last year Shirley Horn and Diana Krall smooth jazz ballads. And BTW, these were all the result of other A'Gon members recommendations. My CD collection is a bit smaller than yours, but then I trade in CDs I don't care for, poor recordings etc.

As a suggestion, start a thread here on Audiogon about the types of music you like, and ask for recommendations every once in a while. You'd be surprised at what comes up. Personally, I'm starting to "explore" classical music a bit. Good Luck, and Cheers. Craig
ozfly
887 posts
 
Ben, I am guilty as charged! I do spend more time reading about gear than about music. It didn't occur to me that when I stopped subscribing to the various audio magazines, I severely curtailed my music reviews. Thanks for the slap uplongside the head ;-) Another thing to add to the recommendations are to listen to the radio or TV (satellite or digital cable carry music channels -- no video streams). I just moved to a city with a great jazz station and listening to that has really paid off -- I can jot down what I like and know I'm not throwing my money away when I buy a cd. Ditto with the sat or cable stations -- you can even pick your poison from metal to alternative to classical. Reenergize with great new music.
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