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Tips for Organizing a CD Collection

JessicaAckerman | May 19, 2011 |

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Even though many people are now using digital media to download and store their music collections, there is still a need for an efficient way to store music CDs. Many people have CDs that have been collected over the years and they need a way to store and retrieve titles in addition to or instead of digital collections. It’s not uncommon for music lovers to own hundreds of CDs, so it is important to have an organizational system that allows for easy access and retrieval.

Here are a few tips that can help you organize even the largest of CD collections.

Choosing an Organizational Method

The method you choose for organizing your CDs depends on your preference and it should make sense for you. An alphabetical system by album title can be difficult to maintain because as you add new CD’s, you have to reorganize everything to fit the new title. However, you may find it helpful to organize alphabetically by the artist’s name or last name; then within that category, you can organize by album chronology. This makes it easy to see at a glance which albums are in your collection by a particular artist.

Other advantageous methods include organizing music by its genre, such as rock, country, pop, and so forth. Or you can organize by the era, such as 1950s or 70s, or the stage of your own life that you associate with a particular type of music. Whatever method you choose, it needs to make sense to you and provide a platform for sorting the CDs. It also needs to be flexible enough to allow you to easily add new titles as your collection grows.

CD Storage Methods

There are several ways to store CDs, from CD racks and cabinets to albums. A rack or cabinet makes sense if you store your CDs in a media room or near the CD player; this makes it easy to swap out disks in the player as desired. An album is a great choice if you travel with your music or if it’s downloaded on a MP3 player, for example, and isn’t accessed often.

If you choose a CD rack, look for a model that can be expanded so that it can grow with your collection. If you choose portable racks, buy a few extra so that you’ll have them on hand later when you need them; it’s not unusual for a rack style to be discontinued and having them in advance lets you expand your collection while keeping everything visually harmonious. CD cabinets can hold anywhere from 150 to several hundred disks, depending on the manufacturer and style chosen. They come in many styles and finishes to fit your decor, so that it won’t clash with your abstract wall clock or wine wall sculptures. Yu may even decide to purchase two cabinets to flank both sides of an entertainment unit.

Another affordable option is use a regular bookcase that has holes for adjustable shelving. Then you can make or purchase additional shelves to reconfigure it to the proper height to hold the CDs.

CD albums are easily portable, so they are a great choice for keeping your CD’s safe when traveling. Pages or multiple albums can be added as needed for an expanding collection. However, albums are meant to hold the disk only, so the jewel case and album insert will have to be stored separately.