Hi Christian,

This is a question that has been raised and discussed before and the simple answer is: it depends ... I don't know how many members regularly coontribute to this wonderful site but the number of methods of storing their collections is almost as large!

I used to sort in alphabetical order for the movies' titles with separate sections for "themes" such as JB007, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. Where a CD had two scores then those CDs were put together, similary three scores and collections of themes at the end.

I had to revsie this arrangement however when (a) I went on a massive spending spree (eBay ... mostly Morricone) and (b) my son got to the age when he started choosing CDs to play - it's wonderful as he likes a lot of my music.

I found that many of my purchases of non-UK/US CDs had no English title and my lack of French/Italian/Spanish, etc. meant that a score placed alpahabetically could be lost as I wouldn't remember what it was called next time I went to it!

So I changed to sorting by composer (but still with the separate themes mentioned above). I don't worry about sorting within composer ... I simply search for the CD wanted. It works most of the time though I still "lose" Morricone titles in amongst the 200 or so I have of his.

As for double scores, etc. where there are two or more composers involved I usually choose the one I think is "more important" (perhaps the one for whom I bought the CD in the first place) so, for example: JGoldsmith's Morituri & DShire's Raid On Entebbe will be found in the Goldsmith section.

Not perfect but personally I don't see the point of sorting by category (s.t. the themes mentioned above), year, etc.

Of course, a lot more storage capacity would make things easier!

Mitch, June 4, 2007; 5:46 AM

I have sorted my soundtracks by category (by film genre that is), because that's the way I
collect them and, moreover, listen to them. Sometimes I am hungry for Spaghetti Westerns,
and then it is fine to have them all in a row. If I had my collection sorted by composer, the
one or the other might slip my attention, I fear.

Though I like some composers more than others, I feel no inclination to organize my
collection artist-oriented, in particular, because there are many musicians of whom I own no
more than a single CD.

Anyway, thanks for the answer. I will browse the forum to find the other related threads.

Christian.Quatremain, June 4, 2007; 8:50 AM

I only have two catagories that I separate my collection into (besides format--of course I have my LPs separate from my CD's). My main catagories are Japanese soundtracks and everything else!

- Eric Yee

erictyee, June 4, 2007; 9:11 AM

I order them by Composer. Every CD with at least 6 minutes of original music makes it into the collection, the others end up on a pile atop the CD storage box. The LP's are in a seperate cupboard, also ordered by composer.

philkws, June 4, 2007; 11:11 AM

My answer [and question] here:

http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/forum/displayquestion.php?topicid=5345

American.Nightmare, June 4, 2007; 2:46 PM

I organize mine by the composer (last name). Then there is some collections I put aside like Varese Club or 007. Compilations like Hollywood 95 are the headache, so I have those piled apart. Though is not a very creative process it has been easy for me to find a CD each time I want it.

antonio_lerias, June 4, 2007; 4:47 PM

The basic answer for (at least that I strive for) is alphabetical by flim/TV show name with compilations bunched after Z in no particular order. However, I spent the last several months ripping the vast majority of my collection into iTunes. I've ripped almost 1100 titles with quite a few being multi-disc sets like Superman, or Starwars, or Varese's 6 CD Goldsmith collection, etc. Having all that music organized in iTunes (and most of it synced to an 80GB iPod) is heaven. I can pull up most anything I feel like listening to in a matter of seconds. The problem now is that the 80GB is full and I have to decide if to split the collection over 2 iPods. If so, then the question of which iPod do I carry with me, or do I always take both becomes an issue.

The convenience of having most of my collection with me and available for a listen at a moments notice is entirely worth it. The CDs themselves are now stored in boxes or on shelves in the basement. I may need to look up something in a liner note occasionally but for the most part I have minimal ongoing interaction with the actual discs anymore. I find that I also listen to way more music this way.

I can in an instant listen to a particular artist, genre (I build playlists to do this i.e. Westerns, Aliens, Quiet), year (or decade), category (again done with playlists i.e. my James Bond playlist), etc.

See ya later.

A.

akwarner, June 4, 2007; 4:54 PM

putting numbers on each CD and running a list, DONE!
:)

1701, June 4, 2007; 6:28 PM

I find it easiest to organize my collection by genres: Blaxploitation (a-z), Cannibal (a-z), Sexploitation (a-z), Horror, Thriller, Sci-fi, etc.
That way if I want to have a party I can put on cue from the Blaxploitation section. Dinner party cocktail exotika? How about Cannibal. After dinner? Sexploitation.
Any "normal/tasteful" soundtracks can go in the "Ephemera" pile, which doesn't get much play except for while parents are over....or maybe for light cleaning and dusting.

neelnkizmiaz, June 12, 2007; 3:28 AM

I organize my CDs by composer's name, not necessarily in alphabetical order, but all CDs of the same composer's are put together...although I put my Disney's Cartoon Soundtrack and Songs Album/Various Artists alltogether....alltogether about 800 soundtrack cds...

bedfordfalls8000, June 21, 2007; 3:45 AM

As akwarner said I've digitalized all my scores as well. Only have
some 210 though. I also use iTunes and as he said it really is
HEAVEN. You have everything you are looking for in just seconds.
I have it organized by Composer and in each Composer by Album
alphabetically. Now there's the 120GB Ipod, I mean that is plenty
of space to have many scores. Anyway I'm younger than most
here so I tend to be more digitalized.

lucassalafia, February 24, 2009; 6:03 PM