How much of your music collection is, like, real dross

[adamslim]

I think my percentage is quite high, as my musical taste has drifted over the years, but I'd say 30% is total rubbish, 20% is kinda OK but I never listen to it, 20% is good but I rarely listen to it, and 30% is good stuff.

Am I outrageously driven by my new acquisitions??? Or just a hoarder?

[totoro]

Until I got rid of my vinyl collection (which went back to the 80s), my percentage was a lot worse. Now I'd say it's probably pretty similar to yours.

I (partially) addressed the problem of good music I never listen to by generating a lot of playlists using musicip. Pretty cool the stuff it brings up.

[tomsi42]

Fortunately, not as much as I feared. As totoro mentions, it was worse during my vinyl days (late 70's - mid 80's).

I have less than 10% that are bad; of these about 2% is truly horrifying and about 20% boring. The rest is ranging from OK to outright fantastic.

I guess it helps being single, no kiddie stuff or crappy boy-bands or Britney #$%*& Spears etc.

This is fortunate as I then can put my player in random album mix mode.

[adamslim]

I've found the ripping process to be quite horrifying in highlighting some of the more worrying purchases. Rather than vinyl cessation (I had some really good records that I'm still missing on CD), I have found that moving to a near-100% online purchase system has improved my music-to-noise ratio.

No longer now do I fall for the HMV 5-for-£20 offers where I can really only find one CD I actually want. I create my own wishlists with dozens of great CDs and splurge out whenever I reckon I deserve CDs (often). Removing impulse buys - oh the joys of Amazon! (No comments about midnight orders though...)

[tomsi42]

I've found the ripping process to be quite horrifying in highlighting some of the more worrying purchases. Rather than vinyl cessation (I had some really good records that I'm still missing on CD), I have found that moving to a near-100% online purchase system has improved my music-to-noise ratio.

I quit buying vinyl in '86 when I bought my first CD player. I had replaced most of my favourites by '89 so I sold my LP's at that time! It took me another 10 years to replace the final 10 I was missing.

I am still buying my CD's in a shop; I would probably buy more rubbish if I did it online...

No longer now do I fall for the HMV 5-for-£20 offers where I can really only find one CD I actually want. I create my own wishlists with dozens of great CDs and splurge out whenever I reckon I deserve CDs (often). Removing impulse buys - oh the joys of Amazon! (No comments about midnight orders though...)

That reminds me of a midnight CD shopping I did once. I dropped into a CD shop on the way home from the pub one night, bought a CD and put it in the pocket of my winter jacket. And forgot all about it. Found the CD about half a year later (next time I needed the jacket). Fortunately it wasn't rubbish - Jamiroquai.

[Mark Lanctot]

The total garbage stuff I just delete. But I'd say 20% of my collection is stuff I've ripped mostly for archiving purposes, I never want to hear it again.

Probably another 20% of my collection is stuff I've heard so much I'm sick of it. I'm very susceptible to listener fatigue - interestingly this wasn't as much of a problem when I got my Squeezebox and is even less of a problem with Transporter. Most of the music I've obtained and heard repeatedly since I got the SB/TP I still like. I've heard a theory that listener fatigue is caused by poor music reproduction so this is an interesting finding.

[chinablues]

But I'd say 20% of my collection is stuff I've ripped mostly for archiving purposes, I never want to hear it again.

The problem though with ripping is that CD's that were always crap and were quietly hidden away gathering dust, are now ripped to the computer. Thus rather than being put into the 'never want to hear it again' category, they are there, instantly accessable, just waiting for an unsuspected 'random play'. Given that musical tastes can change over the years, is it conceivable that yesterday's dross could be tomorrows audio 'treat'. I doubt it actually, but with the storage space being so cheap, who amongst us has made a conscious descision NOT to rip a CD? Who has said, "this is such crap, I do not know what possessed me to buy this and I never want to hear it again". I'm ripping as I write this, and looking around the desk, I see a 'Take That' CD (my daughter's, honestly gov), which I have not ripped. But I have ripped some other crap. Just as an example, I have pulled out the next one to rip. Carpenters 'Greatest Hits'. I'd probably throw up if I heard this now. Must have been my wife that bought that one. Do I rip it?? Yes or No??

Dan

[Mark Lanctot]

The problem though with ripping is that CD's that were always crap and were quietly hidden away gathering dust, are now ripped to the computer. Thus rather than being put into the 'never want to hear it again' category, they are there, instantly accessable, just waiting for an unsuspected 'random play'. Given that musical tastes can change over the years, is it conceivable that yesterday's dross could be tomorrows audio 'treat'. I doubt it actually, but with the storage space being so cheap, who amongst us has made a conscious descision NOT to rip a CD? Who has said, "this is such crap, I do not know what possessed me to buy this and I never want to hear it again". I'm ripping as I write this, and looking around the desk, I see a 'Take That' CD (my daughter's, honestly gov), which I have not ripped. But I have ripped some other crap. Just as an example, I have pulled out the next one to rip. Carpenters 'Greatest Hits'. I'd probably throw up if I heard this now. Must have been my wife that bought that one. Do I rip it?? Yes or No??

Dan

You're right, they beg to be ripped and put in SlimServer just so that you can say "ooh, look how many artists and tracks NOW!"

I'm thinking of making an archive folder for putting these things in so that I have them for archival purposes but that they're out of SlimServer's music folder. Random Mix does pull them up a lot.

[gandt]

Really entertaining and revealing of many truths about men and their collecting...dunno exactly where i sit on the dross/good stuff axis but I certainly share the subtext of "obsessive ripping". Here's my own example I have a few albums origially owned in stereo (and ripped) and then a new mono version came out - "Piper at the gates of Dawn" springs to mind. It was a real dilemma:

Am I really going one day to seriously sit and decide that I must listen to one version rather than the other? "I'm in the mood for Mono today..."

Shouldnt I replace the "old" one with the new one? I mean i know disc space is cheap but...

Yeah. I ripped both.


gandt

[chinablues]

Yeah. I ripped both.
gandt

And I ripped the Carpenters. Being married helps though. Maybe my wife likes it?