One of The Ways We Gots It Better Than Those Folks in the 70/80's-Music Collection Size

[kololok]

Hm, yes and no. I remember having a few LP which I had recorded on cassettes, and other ca 100 cassettes. And the radio and TV of course at the time. I have the feeling that having less music helped being actually more focused/concentrated on the music, and enjoying it more as well. It was listening to album(s) I have without the feeling that I'm missing out to listen to the other XY tens/hundreds of CDs/LPs/streaming/whatever that I should, and the urge to press fast forward to speed things up to be able to put another LP/CD/streaming/whatever. For this I think that more music makes (made) the whole listening shallower, too much of it laying around at fingertips makes me (to speak from my point of view) too unfocused and I found I just can't sit down and enjoy a whole album as I could before, simply for the reason that I feel that I have a backlog there I haven't listened to and I should be doing it.... Just my point of view....

 

[Superampman]

I was thinking about this topic this morning. The size of our music collections are huge compared to what folks often had in the seventies and eighties. Heck back then a person could be considered a serious audio person if they owned a hundred records or cassettes. Now people today have music collections that exceed a couple of thousand pieces, or more. Sure there were folks with big collections back in the day. But the average Joe with a good stereo seemed to own a couple of hundred pieces, and they were serious hobbyists. The causal owner of a hi fi seemed to have 20 or 30 pieces of music. Now with computer storage and digital downloads, and inexpensively priced CD's, it seems a few thousand is quite attainable for most hobbyists.

Yes audio has changed, and the music we have a huge wealth of music to explore.

Regards
Mister Pig

So true but I think I'm about to reverse that trend with the Studer A810 I'm about to purchase. If I was rich it wouldn't change a thing but I gotta find out what the hype is all about. Besides, I always wanted one of those things.

 

[Tom Brennan]

My question is why should I just in the name of conveinence spend one dollar to buy a fake when I can buy the real thing?

I don't care what form you prefer, that's your affair, but because something isn't the form you prefer doesn't mean it isn't real. By your reasoning we could consider all recordings and broadcasts fake, no matter the form.

 

[Old Guy8]

I think with old age, comes a compulsive urge to collect. My downfall was visiting thrifts and garage sales in last few years. Even a backlog of to-clean Records has not stopped it.

 

[bluesky]

How in the world did I end up with 700 CDs???

And I'm a LP guy with 350 LPs, which is enough for sure, for me.



Back in the cassette days... I though 70 cassettes and 40 LPs was a pretty large collection.

 

[rxonmymind]

Whatever you choose I wish all of you the best of luck in your choices. Just do yourself a favor. LISTEN to what you bring home.
For me it'll stop at a the few CDs I originally purchased back in my AF days while the rest will be accessed via online and stored on cloud/computer. Nice & tidy.

 

[mgosdin]

At the end of the 1980's I'd stopped using & stored my stereo equipment, 40 Lps and 45 Cassettes, I needed to concentrate on family & career. About 4 years ago I started to seriously collect stereo equipment and music again. Now I've got more hardware than I know what to do with, around 60 Lps, 250+ Cassettes and something near 500 CD's.

I don't think I'm lacking for music to enjoy, it gets played quite a bit and I'm not likely to want to reduce the quantity any time soon. I'm happy and that was the point now wasn't it?

Mark Gosdin

 

[qdrone]

Been collecting since my teens and it basically was geared around rnr and prog rock but as I got into jazz and classical it expanded. I now have so much but would never part with it. Sure I have doubles and sell them but on the other hand if I see an original mint promo copy of an album I already have at a bargin price I scoop it up.

These are still in boxes as I don't have space to shelve them until I turn my garage into my media room where my entire collection will go. I have around 5000 cd's in the garage too. My collection are like my children,they have been with me my entire life can't envision my life without them. It's in some small way a sauve to get through life and a comfort in my retirement.

 

[Funky54]

In truth I just do't really have need for more than about 300 albums.

For Vinyl, I have about 250-300... lost count. I am still buying new vinyl. My goal though is to keep my vinyl collection under the 300 mark. I only have about an hour a day to listen. In truth around 300 is all I need and have time for. So now I have a pile to sell. It's probably 25 albums, It's stuff I like but don't love. Those albums I can keep digital. I use that kinda stuff for whole house audio when I'm cooking or working on projects. The truth is even then they compete with internet streaming services.

I have hundreds and hundreds of CD's in boxes in my garage attic. I really need to go through them one more time and sell to someone who would enjoy them. I have about 30 CD's (not available on Vinyl) and maybe 30 HDtracks albums for digital that I keep for regular use.

 

[miscrms00]

It really is incredible. Both in the relative affordability of media and the ability to within seconds / minutes track down and listen to almost any track you don't have but want to hear. It may not always be a pristine example, but its still amazing to me none the less.

 

[Funky54]

It really is incredible. Both in the relative affordability of media and the ability to within seconds / minutes track down and listen to almost any track you don't have but want to hear. It may not always be a pristine example, but its still amazing to me none the less.

That is a huge advantage... and disadvantage.

When I was a teenager there were about 4 popular radio stations for rock and maybe two for country. Everyone in my high school chose from that small window of music to develop their taste and appreciation. Now, what was good about that, is because we all heard the same things, we all talked about and were scocial about our choices even if they differed. There was comradere if you will. To some that might sound boring, but in truth it was also soothing that everyone related more. Now with so many choices and variety, It's great to broaden out and explore.. the down side is you relate to fewer and fewer people musically.

Personally, I feel very alone. I feel like a minority and I don't relate to very many people around me. At gatherings, I dislike many musical choices I am subjected to. This topic came up once a year back and it was interesting, we all felt that way, and yet none of us liked each other's music much.

I think its sad what's POPULAR in the US where I live now. Others will say that's cause your old or that's because you haven't been enlightened... some will say your shaking your fist at clouds.. But its hard to tell someone who is a lot younger how culture of music was different. It's not about talent or what I like versus what someone else likes.. the culture is different. Music today is "cheapened." It's 99 cent throw-away and forget it by tomorrow now. There is some great music written today.. yes, but there is also a much stronger greed, business side to it. Yes in the early 80's there were bands thrown together with commercial pop sounds to cash in, but at the same time, the radio was filled with good stuff too. All of it was main stream. Today very little really good stuff (any genre) is mainstream. So many roads going different ways just leaves a bunch of lost folk traveling alone.

 

[tnmike1]

This matches my experience, but I also recall that people's collections were more focused. There was "the jazz guy", the "classical guy", "the Sinatra guy", "the bluegrass guy", etc. There might be a couple of hundred records in total, but the collection often had a focus and some depth to it.

These days there are so many options for finding music in any format, it's possible to build a collection that is both wide (lots of genres) and deep (almost every record from a given artist).

I remember feeling like I'd arrived when my collection got big enough that sometimes I would find a record I forgot I had. Like a miniature Christmas right there in my Peaches crate!

Guess you can count me as the "jazz guy, classical guy, Sinatra guy, Fitzgerald guy and Ellington guy" Have little else in my small collection. Couple hundred and that's it

 

[KentTeffeteller]

I had a large, varied collection then. Not much has changed for me. And radio being mostly AM for pop, country, and rock, and many such stations in East Tennessee being reduced power at night, made a good record library necessary. And also FM Top 40 didn't arrive here until 1975, no AOR until 1979, most FM stations were beautiful or country. We had one classical station, which is now NPR news intensive and some Classical and Jazz. Which means at my other house, that I am buying a lot of Classical LP discs due to the lack of on air radio in that format.

 

[MannyE]

It helps that records now cost me a buck vs the 8 to 12 (in 1980's dollars) they used to cost. Well, except for new nivyl, but I buy 90% thrift, 10% new.

 

[Condorsat]

That is a huge advantage... and disadvantage.

When I was a teenager there were about 4 popular radio stations for rock and maybe two for country. Everyone in my high school chose from that small window of music to develop their taste and appreciation. Now, what was good about that, is because we all heard the same things, we all talked about and were scocial about our choices even if they differed. There was comradere if you will. To some that might sound boring, but in truth it was also soothing that everyone related more. Now with so many choices and variety, It's great to broaden out and explore.. the down side is you relate to fewer and fewer people musically.

Personally, I feel very alone. I feel like a minority and I don't relate to very many people around me. At gatherings, I dislike many musical choices I am subjected to. This topic came up once a year back and it was interesting, we all felt that way, and yet none of us liked each other's music much.

I think its sad what's POPULAR in the US where I live now. Others will say that's cause your old or that's because you haven't been enlightened... some will say your shaking your fist at clouds.. But its hard to tell someone who is a lot younger how culture of music was different. It's not about talent or what I like versus what someone else likes.. the culture is different. Music today is "cheapened." It's 99 cent throw-away and forget it by tomorrow now. There is some great music written today.. yes, but there is also a much stronger greed, business side to it. Yes in the early 80's there were bands thrown together with commercial pop sounds to cash in, but at the same time, the radio was filled with good stuff too. All of it was main stream. Today very little really good stuff (any genre) is mainstream. So many roads going different ways just leaves a bunch of lost folk traveling alone.

... I want to agree with parts of this & disagree with others. Things have definitely changed ... everybody is off in different directions ... there is no common watering hole anymore
.

On the other hand ... with streaming ... the choices are mind boggling ...I have a huge backlog of music to listen too ... discovering new music every week. I got into the habit of logging what I listen too so I don't forget and can go back to it. A really good album can just get lost in the webesphere (new word).

 

[rwartner]

Technology. Computers now have big enough disk drives to contain large libraries. Playing music from computer is a big difference for me. Having a jukebox loaded with 2000 CDs rather than one album or cassette at a time.

I am a very lazy person. Trying to decide which record to play is agonizing. Now the computer decides.

Research. There is so much more information available. The internet has had a huge impact on our lives. Here we are.

Availability. Used CDs in perfect condition. I can go to the record store or online. It is way easier and cheaper. Back in 80s I didn't know what to look for. Sometimes I bought albums because of the cover art.

I like things now way better.

 

[chef free]

I used to collect "bootleg" records back in the '70's. I had what was considered a "big" collection of about 30 bootleg records along with maybe 70 legitimate releases. And people were impressed. Now I have a 2 terabyte hard drive, nearly full of FLACs. The modern world RULES!

 

[Bob]

There's another angle to this whole music collection and that's that prices have gone down. Yes, you can pay
big bux for the DSD2048 that talks to you and bats. But so far, with wholesale dumping of LPs - continuing to this
day due to boomers leaving us, and the next generation of dumping of CDs.

You can now buy at garage/yard sales, CL, eBay, etc tons of music for almost nothing. In fact, carry a Benjamin
and do drive-bys for that motherlode of hardware and software.

 

[Funky54]

... I want to agree with parts of this & disagree with others. Things have definitely changed ... everybody is off in different directions ... there is no common watering hole anymore
.

On the other hand ... with streaming ... the choices are mind boggling ...I have a huge backlog of music to listen too ... discovering new music every week. I got into the habit of logging what I listen too so I don't forget and can go back to it. A really good album can just get lost in the webesphere (new word).

Yes. And I agree that there is very good music out there. Part of my comment though is that in the past there was promotors, and radio "looking" for those "really good albums" and today what is projected as mainstream is for the vast majority just the opposite. What's been spoon fed as mainstream, is what could be "controlled", created, fabricated for mass consumption at the highest profit. Look at how club music has taken over the radio. A strong commercial drum machine beat, followed by synthesizer programmed auto tuned voices and cheesy lyrics... that's what dominates the radio. Like it or not, in the states the radio is still "mainstream" and what kids know and buy. In the past, there was cheesy stuff, but there was also some talented awesome stuff. Today the talented stuff is hidden and everyone is searching for it.

 

[Funky54]

There's another angle to this whole music collection and that's that prices have gone down. Yes, you can pay
big bux for the DSD2048 that talks to you and bats. But so far, with wholesale dumping of LPs - continuing to this
day due to boomers leaving us, and the next generation of dumping of CDs.

You can now buy at garage/yard sales, CL, eBay, etc tons of music for almost nothing. In fact, carry a Benjamin
and do drive-bys for that motherlode of hardware and software.

I don't know where you live... but it ain't like that here unless your very easy to please.