CD Database Software

I used to use Collectors.com Music Collectors software to catalogue my CDs but the company has recently changed the way it charges to subscription rather than a one-off payment basis, which I dislike. Can anyone recommend alternative software for which there is only a single charges and to which I could easily transfer my data? Thank you in advance for your help.

What about Discogs, have you tried their website? The online service has a vast database where you can log / catalogue your CDs, vinyl, cassettes, downloads and buy and sell media. Thereā€™s also a handy app where you can check your collection instantly and use the phone camera to read the barcode on the CD and add it to your collection, especially helpful when about to buy a duplicate album by mistake! Highly recommended, but dangerous for the wallet when you start creating ā€˜want listsā€™.

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@Marcopolovitch and @YetiZone Discogs is the way to go i started cataloging my stuff a couple of months ago and it works a treat on R for Rolling Stones nearly finished !!!

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Discogs, for all the reasons mentioned previously. Iā€™d like to add that their website and app that works flawlessly.

The only negative thing about Discogs I can think of is if youā€™re into classical music (like I am) itā€™s a bloody mess; itā€™s sorted by what is printed on the cover = composer, orchestra, conductor or soloist; the order depends on which user enters the data in the first place.

Tried a great deal of softwares and apps recently and I came to the conclusion that Discogs win, in spite of its shortcomings. The site/app, itā€™s free of charge.

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I bought, and still use, Collectorz when it was very new on the understanding it was a one-off payment. When they went subscription I wrote to them and they agreed I had a lifetime licence and I never have to renew.

Depending on when you first subscribed itā€™s worth an email off to them.

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Another vote for Discogs. I have around 5,000 LPs, 3,000 CDs, a couple of thousand singles and 900 or so tapes. Using Discogs has allowed me to catalogue these over the course of 2 or 3 years. The sales stats also help with insurance, and if you have the app on your phone you can see which records youā€™ve already got when youā€™re out shopping (useful if, like me, your collection is growing almost as fast as your brain cells are dying).

Iā€™ve no idea why anyone would want to pay for software when this wonderful free resource is available.

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I use discogs for my vinyl. The only thing I donā€™t like about discogs is that I donā€™t think you can attach your own album art and notes - I am happy to be put right if I am wrong on this :+1:

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You can indeed add your own art Doc, or make notes, either just for your own benefit or that of the community.

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Thanks Kevster. Iā€™ll have to look into that. Not obvious from the app though. Cheers.

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To be fair @docbot, Iā€™ve never tried it on the app, but itā€™s very easy to do on the browser version on a laptop.

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Thank you all for taking the time to reply and for your advice. Iā€™ve not come across Discogs before but I shall investigate tomorrow. It sounds great, apart from the shortcomings with regard to classical music.

Iā€™m a Collectorz user too and I havenā€™t quite picked up on the proposed changes to their pay model. My immediate assumption is that my desktop software probably wonā€™t suddenly stop working - even if it isnā€™t supported. With over 2000 albums listed I would like to import this into any solution I might consider as a replacement.
I have been paying Collectorz an annual support subscription so the new model might not be too different for me.

At NickLeesā€™s suggestion, I contacted Collectorz and they said that I could download version 8, although this no longer allowed on-line access to CD databases, which is how I used to update my records. I did this, but it wouldnā€™t install properly and when I asked for help, they simply said that they no longer supported version 8. I only had a standard licence rather than NickLeesā€™s Lifetime one, and so was not entitled to updates.

I also tried Discogs and itā€™s great for CDs in their database but very laborious for CDs not on their list. I couldnā€™t find any way of transferring my existing data to Discogs and so it would take a long time to duplicate this manually, even using the barcode reader. Havenā€™t decided yet what to do, especially as Iā€™m considering moving to streaming. Heigho.

But thanks for all your help.

I use a very old program called OrangeCD, from Firetongue Software (easily found via Goggle). Thought it had died a death some four years ago, but there has been a new update in July 2020. Lifetime licence for thirty-five bucks. It used to pull meta data from ā€œfreedb.orgā€, until the latterā€™s demise, but according to the website, something else might in in the pipeline.

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