Now Collecting Music in Digital Format
I thought it would take much longer for me to get to this point – it's been a mere 18 months since I started collecting music on physical media (PM). I haven't completely filled all 28 cubes in my IKEA Kallax shelves with vinyl, CDs, and cassettes yet, but after some family and friends have given me boxes upon boxes filled with PM over the past few months, I realize I won't have the space for physical copies of every album I want. So it's time to make some changes.
The Biggest Challenge With Physical Media
A big reason many people have long given up collecting PM is that it occupies physical space. And it just sits there, taking up that space for almost all of its existence. Some formats occupy more space per unit than others (I'm looking at you, vinyl). And as my storage space is finite, yet my Discogs Want List only continues to grow (approaching 1,600 items as of the time I write this post), I have arrived at the inevitable conclusion that I need to change my approach.
I don't have room for more shelves. Well I technically do, but I'd have to scatter them throughout my house and I'm not going to impose my clutter on the rest of my family. I made a personal rule when I decided to collect PM again that it would have to all fit on shelves within the confines of the small bedroom I use as a home office for my remote day job and for streaming. And when I fill that space, I'm done. So therein lies the challenge.
My New Plan
If I truly want to grow my music collection to thousands of albums – and I do – that means I'm going to have to change my approach to collecting. Here's my new plan.
Prioritize digital files
Since I decided to collect PM again, my priorities have been vinyl, then CDs, then cassettes. Digital files have been an afterthought – I rip my CDs and download the files from Bandcamp when I purchase PM from there. But I have considered those backups. Until now.
As much as I love collecting PM, I must be format agnostic. It is and always will be about the music. I cannot let the format take precedence or limit my ability to experience the music.
Here is how I will prioritize collecting music going forward:
- Digital files
- CDs
- Vinyl
- Cassettes
There will always be exceptions – like owning the That Thing You Do! soundtrack on vinyl or the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtracks on cassette. Exceptions like those just make sense to me.
But in general, moving forward, if I cannot find the music in digital format (FLAC or at least MP3 320 kbps), I will try to find it on physical media starting with CDs.
Digital files only require a storage drive to contain them and, therefore, take up the least amount of physical space. This greatly increases my capacity to collect music and allows me to be much more picky about the physical media I collect. And to be clear, I plan to purchase music files legitimately. I do not advocate or participate in piracy and I want to pay artists for their art.
CDs are something I will likely collect alongside digital files. After collecting vinyl, compact discs, and cassettes again over the last year and half, I now readily admit CDs are my favorite physical format.
And, currently, CDs are often the cheapest way to own copies of music. My CD collection is made up of a large number of $1-$2 thrift store gems. And even at record stores, used CDs go for $5-$7 on average – much less than vinyl or even digital versions of albums. I can rip them into digital formats, so it's really the best of both worlds. And CDs take up less physical space than vinyl – I can store 140-150 CDs in a single Kallax cube vs 50-60 vinyl records.
I'll still collect vinyl, of course, as well as the odd cassette. I will always enjoy the unique experiences of each physical format.
Replace vinyl copies with digital or CDs
I'm starting to go through my collection to identify vinyl that can be replaced with digital files or CDs. There's still so much music out there that cannot be purchased digitally in high quality formats. Some can be found only on vinyl, so I will always have a solid physical media collection. This will ensure I have room for the stuff that really can't be enjoyed any other way.
Purge PM that I don't really want and be more picky
I'm going through each title in my physical collection and asking two questions:
- Would I have been excited to grab this if I saw it while digging record store dollar bins?
- Will I ever want to listen to this more than once?
I need to purge anything where the answer to either of those questions is no.
Focus on specific genres
I've been thinking about this for some time now. I do love music across so many different genres, but I've already been gravitating to specific ones: jazz, fusion, blues, funk, soul, and yacht rock. As my collection reaches the limits of available space, I'll be getting rid of PM from other genres to accommodate the ones I'm focusing on.
Conclusion
To escape the constraints of physical space, I'm changing my approach to collecting music by embracing digital files in addition to physical media. I'm also more tightly curating my physical collection to maximize space and make sure it contains music I am truly passionate about.