Large Music Collections – Why?

If this is aimed at me, my post above was trying to articulate a “does it really matter” perspective.

I wouldn’t classify myself as a collector but certainly I have often had CDs still wrapped in cellophane a year after I bought them so yes certainly an element of addiction.

.sjb

Not aimed at anyone specific, just posing the question. I guess hobbies can be very indulgent, and can take over your life if you are not carefull.

I love music, though by HH’s measure I’m not a music lover! Why should loving music in any way means always wanting more? That is almost akin to saying that someone who is happily in love with one person in a monogamous relationship doesn’t truly love. Everyone is different!

As mentioned before, unlike some people my taste in music has not changed over the dacades, though it has broadened a little, notably my discovery of opera, but I am missing nothing as there is so much depth and breadth in the music I like. In terms of size of collection, if I only played each album once I could play for more than 3 hours a day every day for a year without repeating anything - and of course I want to play many things far more often than once a year, meaning I hear other things less often. Of course it is nice to occasionally discover some hitherto unknown gem of a band or composer of previously unheard beautiful music, and add a bit to my collection, but that is a bonus and not an aim.

And there is nothing remotely depressing about playing an album of wonderful album again and again and again - it is simply bliss (assuming one has a connection with the music).
Live music, even a nondescript band caught in a pub or similar is always enjoyable, though sadly time and availability make it far less frequent than it used to be. One thing I miss is the heady days of record shops where you could listen to music for an hour or two trying different things, picked to try because the album sleeve was interesting: At one time I’d visit 2 or 3 shops in my local town every Saturday and try a handful of things in each, more often than not buying one. Now at least Spotify lets me freely check out new music, and occasionally find something I like enough to buy.

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Or even if you are careful! But of course for some people the hobby, whether collecting music, tinkering with hifi, photography, sailing, golf or collecting rubber bands defines their lives, and they are happy for that to be the case.

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Streaming gives you almost everything ever recorded. No storage , no cleaning,and you dont have to get out of your seat. Some will defend due to their investment. Me I gave my records to the record shop. Im old school Naim but my phone in conjunction with Sonos lets me view the screen from inches rather then get up to look at the display.

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Can a painter have too many colours? A large collection can cover all types/shades of music and I can always find something to suit my mood when choosing what to listen to. I have about 1500 albums and try to operate a one in/one out approach due to storage constraints.

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Agree Brown Owl

Although my collection slightly smaller than yours it’s forever evolving

Well yes. Perhaps having a too broad a palette could muddy the picture.
In theory one only needs 5 colours. Red, blue, yellow, black and white. :wink:
I have about 1500 albums and haven’t bought one since a year ago. I seem to have fits of accumulating them then with a break to appreciate them properly.
Sometimes discovering a “new” unique record label with a large roster helps.

I have a fairly modest collection by standards here I think, under a 1000 LPs and CDs. I expect this will creep up with time. Around this size is enough for me, I don’t think I could remember what I had if it got significantly larger.
I am not sure there is the right size for a collection, just a size that works for you and it will be different for all of us.

you can always post them to me :grinning:

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I have a few thousand probably and have bought quite a lot recently on the second hand market. My tastes have constantly changed in my 55 years on earth and I’ve bought, especially used, to reflect those changes. I’ve always found one way to lose the enjoyment is to listen to the same albums over and over again. CDs are so cheap to buy used why not have a large collection

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You know you are in trouble when you buy the same LP/CD two years later because you have forgotten buying it in the first place. Not to worry, my cousin has done this with his collection of railway memorabilia.

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I don’t think you can ever have too many colours. Trick is getting time to use them all.

I have about 1500 CDs and find that there’s lots I just forget to play there’s also a few I no longer enjoy. It’s worst now as most of us have access to a streaming service.

In my teens and early twenties I listened to music a lot (as well as recorded on the early 4 track portastudios with Roland 100 synth) and collected records.
I wanted to protect them and always purchased better inner sleeves and outer sleeves to keep the covers and records in good nick (ensuring openings were not lined up as my friends tended to do).
My favourites were stored in boxes, the rest tended to spread around the room a bit.
I had my preferred genres and artists / bands - but also liked to hear what other people were playing.
I had what my friends thought was a large collection - but not compared to what people have here. If I had continued with what I was doing then, perhaps my collection would have grown similarly.
But in 1982 I took up a nomadic life and gave it all away to a local community centre - I did not listen to music as an active hobby until someone gave me a strange little silver disc and I wondered what it was and how I was going to play it.
…the disc was Riverdance of all things…
So in 1999 I bought a CD/Amp/Speaker system and reacquainted myself with what I has listened to when younger and explored what had been happening since. I had only upgraded this system since then with a pair of Focal Cobalt 816 speakers and an external DAC - until I recently got my first Naim set up.
Although I have bought CDs since 1999 it had not been a driving force - but the sound I am enjoying now has been a revelation and as well as listening to my collection anew I am buying new music.
I am exploring new genres and musical directions / themes.
I don’t stream to my hifi (wife has an alexa), so cannot discover that way - though I read the posts here and try things out on alexa. Discovering new music that way that I then bought - such as The Gloaming.
We don’t enough of an income to really buy a lot ongoing.

Am I a collector? - likely not as I don’t keep everything - especially if
I buy a handful from a charity shop and only like 1 or 2.
If I find a better version of something - such as digipak covers - I generally don’t keep both though I have, on rare occasions, kept a CD that has the same track listing as the record I loved when younger as well as the newer ‘expanded version’ with extra tracks. Something about hearing it as it was still feels important at times.
However my wife already thinks I have too many…

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I don’t think it’s the size of the collection per se that is important more the range of music you get exposed to over a lifetime through radio, purchasing, now streaming and very importantly live. Although growing up in the late 60/70s unlike @anon4489532 I largely ignored prog but because Dad had always liked (trad) jazz I leant towards more bluesy rhythmic stuff, I despised (for the most part) punk and post punk but rocking out to Quo was always my dirty secret. As I’ve got older I’ve listened to a lot more jazz and classical and my late wife diversified me. And HH there’s nothing wrong with Dire Straits or the Eagles although with the latter you do have to sort the wheat from the chaff!

Regards,

Lindsay

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I’ve gone months without buying.

It really doesn’t. There are massive massive gaps on every streaming platform.

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Me too I’ve bought 1 download and 1 CD since signing up with Qobuz/Tidal 8 months ago. I use to buy at least 2 or 3 downloads plus CDs.

I often go for months without buying, though I decline to subscribe to any streaming service. I just don’t have the yearn for more, and only seek out listening to something new if something catches my eye (e.g on the various threads here, or, though rarely, if I hear something I like on the radio (I don’t routinely listen to music on the radio because there is usually too much I find unpleasant, or they play tracks from things that should be played complete.). Then I go to spotify and have a listen, but only buy if I like enough to want to hear again.

I subscribe to qubuz but still prefer the sq of local files for serious listening. If I find something on qubuz or on radio paradise (which is superb for finding new music) that I really like I will buy it