How Do You Organize Your Music?


Depending on how much music you have, I'm sure everyone organizes their music a little differently. Do you separate by genre, then alphabetize? Do you have a chronological system? Do you tab where the next letter starts?

I'm curious to know how people with huge music libraries catalogue their music. Digital music can be very easy to organize if you have accurate ID3 tags, but what do you do with your CDs and LPs?
128x128heyitsmedusty
Weird Experiment: Currently my stuff is organized by record label, makes sense if your stuff is mostly jazz or classical:

ECM, bluenote, verve, reprise, DG, London, etc... I used to work at a record store where the classical was arranged by label and catalog number - you haad to get the Schwann catalog to find anything - pretty lame actually.

I'll probably change back to genra/artist some day. Actually now that everything is ripped to the mac/appleTV box, it doesn't matter. I don't touch the CDs anymore.
Jazz CDs are alphabetical, pop/rock and clasical are localized in specific drawers, but thats it. This of course drives my wife insane because she knows neither the names of the artists or what genre they are in so she can find nothing.

Vinyl has no organization whatsoever, except that the things I listen to a lot always wind up on the right and the stuff I don't listen to all that often ends up on the left. In other words 'chaotic'.
My OCD (self-diagnosed) is cause for deep consternation in this area. I want to sort by genre, alpha, then chron, but each has it's own dilemma. For example ...
GENRE: Muddy is Blues, but how about Fleetwod Mac with Green? And then what if I have Fleetwood Mac without Green?
ALPHA: Reverend Horton Heat, none of which is his real name, so sort under Rev.? Horton? Heat? Heath (Jim, actual name)?
CHRON: Recorded or realeased date - could span years? Collections - again, could span years?
Arrrrrggghhhh!!!!!!!!!
I don't - every CD is available using a search function from listening chair...nothing is ever more than a "click" away.
Used to be alphabetical. After we moved into our new home, they just got placed in the cabinets to make space available to move around in. They're rather mixed up, but I know where the records are, and where the Cd's are. I'm actually starting to remember where most of the artists are in the cabinets. Should get organized, though...