Culling CDs

[LMcD]

I periodically go through my CD collection to discover which recordings I haven't played for a while. Having listened to such a disc to explain its apparent neglect, if I find that I'm unlikely to ever play it again - or, as sometimes happens - it proves to be a duplicate or its neglect reflects a change in my musical interests- it goes off to a local charity shop which I know is frequented by those seeking bargains in this field. In this way, the charity benefits - all my donations are gift-aided, which gives them an extra 25% - fellow music-lovers benefit and I don't need to create extra storage space for new CDs which I purchase (quite often from the charity shops).
I honestly can't see the point of amassing a huge collection of CDs when I know I shall never have the time to listen to all of them.

[MrGongGong]

This is my favourite culling CD

https://www.lesdisquesducrepuscule.com/culling_is_coming_boucd6604.html

[jayne lee wilson]

In the 70s, when the fantastically well-stocked record library opened a coupla miles away, I was in heaven...Radio 3 on the one hand, all these LPs on the other. Bartok, DSCH on Melodiya, Bruckner, Mahler,, Birtwistle, Stockhausen, Schoenberg,.. there it all was. If you kept off the beaten path, you almost had these composers and the pristine LPs to yourself...

So very belatedly Building a Library of CDs here decades later, was the realisation of a fantasy - to live in a music library, to have that freedom, that choice, to adventure and explore... to keep renewing it, adding to it...
So culling.... well.....a few duplicates of remasters maybe, but the comparisons are still useful....

The concept of "having time to listen to all of them" is a strange one to me....

[vinteuil]

I periodically go through my CD collection to discover which recordings I haven't played for a while. Having listened to such a disc to explain its apparent neglect, if I find that I'm unlikely to ever play it again - or, as sometimes happens - it proves to be a duplicate or its neglect reflects a change in my musical interests- it goes off to a local charity shop ... I honestly can't see the point of amassing a huge collection of CDs when I know I shall never have the time to listen to all of them.

... there is of course wisdom in that approach. Another view, however, might be that one is building up a 'library' to which you can refer whenever you need. In the same way as the books I have acquired over the years.

And, yes, you may have 'a change in your musical interests' - but equally your interests may veer back again. And anyway you might wish to listen again to something which once had such appeal for you.

I find a certain satisfaction looking around the shelves of books and CDs, a reflection of current and previous interests, the worm-casts of my life. It's unlikely that I'll re-read much of the Fantômas or Jules Verne volumes - but looking at them I can recall the thrill of getting them and racing thro' them the first times round. I may be less enthralled now by Soler or Déodat de Séverac than I once was - but I never know if one day I might not wish to plunge back in again.

I never cull...


.

[teamsaint]

... there is of course wisdom in that approach. Another view, however, might be that one is building up a 'library' to which you can refer whenever you need. In the same way as the books I have acquired over the years.

And, yes, you may have 'a change in your musical interests' - but equally your interests may veer back again. And anyway you might wish to listen again to something which once had such appeal for you.

I find a certain satisfaction looking around the shelves of books and CDs, a reflection of current and previous interests, the worm-casts of my life. It's unlikely that I'll re-read much of the Fantômas or Jules Verne volumes - but looking at them I can recall the thrill of getting them and racing thro' them the first times round. I may be less enthralled now by Soler or Déodat de Séverac than I once was - but I never know if one day I might not wish to plunge back in again.

I never cull...


.

Completely agree. This is more than mere stuff. It is memory, experience, changing belief, love, faith, and so on. Nobody will part me from any of it willingly. My collection of singles had to be worked hard for, both to raise the money, and to find the records.

And you never quite know what you will find on returning.

Don't cull. Archive if you must.

[cloughie]

Completely agree. This is more than mere stuff. It is memory, experience, changing belief, love, faith, and so on. Nobody will part me from any of it willingly. My collection of singles had to be worked hard for, both to raise the money, and to find the records.

And you never quite know what you will find on returning.

Don't cull. Archive if you must.

Any culling I do is a result of the ‘big box syndrome’ disposing of duplicates and it is so sad that I cannot give them away to people I know would appreciate them - there a fewer and fewer around as recipients of these - a shame that the ideas on the forum for an exchange mart have never come to anything.

[Petrushka]

Any culling I do is a result of the ‘big box syndrome’ disposing of duplicates and it is so sad that I cannot give them away to people I know would appreciate them - there a fewer and fewer around as recipients of these - a shame that the ideas on the forum for an exchange mart have never come to anything.

This is very much my view too. I have many duplicates and have a plan to dispose of them on e-bay once I retire at the end of the year, Whether anything will come of it I don't know but it would be good to get a bit of money for them to supplement the pension.

[pastoralguy]

Most of my spare time and cash - ok, ALL my spare time and cash is spent going round charity shops and picking up 'classical' CDs which I may or may not listen to. I certainly INTEND to listen to them all but I suspect the grim reaper has other plans for this tired and disillusioned old body!

And that's even before I reacquaint myself with my absolute favourite recordings which I've heard many times before and bring back memories of the circumstances with which I first heard the work or bought the recording. So, no, I won't be parting with any of my treasured collection any time soon. I did have a 'big box' cull some years ago and gave the duplicates to a young chap who was studying at the RNCM who was gobsmacked.

We have a back bedroom which has been shelved to accommodate my collection of thousands of discs. Each has a memory of some description which may be fleeting or strong. I would no more consider parting with any of my CDs as I would consider getting rid of a bit of my body although I realise that my extremely hard won collection could well end up in a skip one day!

(Item... I had a friend who worked in Rae Mackintosh in Edinburgh when it was situated in George Street in the 60's. In those days, they had a 'trade in' service for old 78's which, naturally, became redundant as Lps became the dominant force in recorded music. This friend had the job of breaking the news to recently widowed wives of professional men that the long accumulated and treasured 78rpm collection was worth...nothing. 'But he took such great care of them and they were so expensive to buy' would plead these ladies who simply wanted their late husband's collection to be appreciated by a new generation of music lovers. My friend tried to explain that Menuhin's recording of the Elgar Concerto, conducted by the composer himself on eight 78's was superseded by a single Lp with no side changes.)

It would appear one cannot stop progress.

[MickyD]

I'm afraid I could never cull my huge CD collection. One particular pleasure is coming across CDs that I bought in the past, maybe listened to once, then forgot. I am constantly agreeably surprised by what I find I have tucked away.

[visualnickmos]

I'm afraid I could never cull my huge CD collection. One particular pleasure is coming across CDs that I bought in the past, maybe listened to once, then forgot. I am constantly agreeably surprised by what I find I have tucked away.

I agree. Never cull. So often I find that a particular type of music, composer, opera, or whatever, that I have gone off - sometimes for years, do come back into the fold of favour, again at some point.

[BBMmk2]

No never! But if you are, anyone, here’s a grateful recipient!

[gradus]

I should cull but never did with LPs despite acquiring some that I will never play eg Peters and Lee (signed) from my record company days. I also have quite a few returned discs that were available from a large room in which 'faulty' records returned by the public were stored, these include several sets such as Pfitzner's Palestrina, Bohm's Cosi, DFD's complete Schubert lieder,various Karajan complete sets etc The faults were invariably minor (imv). No reason to keep these records which have lain unplayed in nearly 40 years, except inertia.
There are plenty of CDs received as gifts but never played languishing on the shelves.
I find my listening dominated by streaming and radio these days.

[Pulcinella]

Occasional culls here, which friends, neighbours (not that they're not friends too!), and a couple of forumites have benefitted from.
Mostly duplicates when big boxes have been bought (though sometimes annoyingly the couplings are different, so the older issue is still kept), but also some 'regrettable' purchases that I know I won't listen to again (or, if the urge came, I could probably stream).

[Serial_Apologist]

I should cull but never did with LPs despite acquiring some that I will never play eg Peters and Lee (signed) from my record company days. I also have quite a few returned discs that were available from a large room in which 'faulty' records returned by the public were stored, these include several sets such as Pfitzner's Palestrina, Bohm's Cosi, DFD's complete Schubert lieder,various Karajan complete sets etc The faults were invariably minor (imv). No reason to keep these records which have lain unplayed in nearly 40 years, except inertia.
There are plenty of CDs received as gifts but never played languishing on the shelves.
I find my listening dominated by streaming and radio these days.

Several of my jazz LPs from the 1960s and 1970s have been replaced by CD versions. Or rather, supplemented, effectively. Talking to the young couple, also jazz enthusiasts, who moved into one of the flats in this block a year ago, and opening out the gatefold of Keith Tippett's "Septober Energy" to reveal the historic photograph of that entire 50-strong crew of Centipede, the husband just simply said "No, you mustn't ever get rid of your vinyl" So I'm afraid some other poor charlie is going to have to dispense with it all, along with the however many 78s bequeathed to me on my father's death, in 2001.

[Jonathan]

I only ever cull CDs if they are collectivised into a box set, for example, my plan is to buy the Brilliant classics Alkan set so I'm currently selling the discs I have from it on eBay. I did the same with Leslie Howard's Hyperion Liszt set.