How do you organise/revisit your music in the non-physical media age?

[Digby]

I am just wondering how people remember the names of tracks, particularly if instrumental, in these days of downloaded media. I like to think I have a pretty good memory and back in the physical media days I would be able to associate a track with a record/cd cover and remember it from there, but nowadays I have so many tracks in digital only format, I struggle to remember what is what without any kind of reference.

Has anyone a good system they would like to share for referencing and finding tracks in your digital collection? Do you make playlists for certain moods or add some kind of note to the file itself that can be sorted through (say "bright, uplifting" or "moody ambience" or whatever). Do you just stick your media player on random shuffle hoping to hit seldom heard gold?

I'm looking for ways to revisit tracks that I know I have stored but have forgotten what they are called, because I am lacking that physical reference and probably because I, like so many, have much more music in the digital age than I ever had on physical formats - is anyone else facing this problem and how have you dealt with it?

 

[Vincent Kars]

All that I have ripped or downloaded comes with cover art so not different from the time I had LP's and CD's.
If I really like a track I rate it 5 star.
Occasionally I use the COMMENT tag.

 

[sergeauckland]

I have all my digital music as albums, no different really to when I played physical CDs or LPs. Depending on what I want to play, I browse my collection by genre, then artist, then choose an album to play. I keep the genres simple, Classical, Jazz, Rock/Pop/Folk/Blues. Really can't understand the weird genre names record companies dream up.

For Classical, the 'Artist' is the composer, the 'Album' is the work, then each movement is a track in the album.

Using LMS as the server, it integrates my Spotify albums just as if they were local files, and again with Spotify, I only save full albums, not individual tracks.

The only time I use Random play is when I can't think of what to play, so let LMS play from within one genre. Select by track for Jazz and Rock/Pop/Folk/Blues, by album for Classical.

S.

 

[Digby]

All that I have ripped or downloaded comes with cover art so not different from the time I had LP's and CD's.

Yes, but for whatever reason I find it rather less memorable than physical artwork.

Occasionally I use the COMMENT tag.

and you search through these comments?

@sergeauckland Maybe my OP wasn't clear, but do you always know the name of the track/piece you want to play...you are never at a loss for the title or do you employ some kind of method to help you remember?

 

[bluefuzz]

I am just wondering how people remember the names of tracks, particularly if instrumental, in these days of downloaded media.

I never could remember the name of tracks, especially instrumental ones, in the days of physical media so nothing has changed there. I don't really play 'tracks' unless on random play. I play albums by artists and the tracks are what they are, i.e. I remember artists (mostly) by name, albums by their cover and the tracks just appear in the order they are on the album. Obviously there are a few album and song titles that have succeeded in sticking my memory over the years but I guess it's a small minority.

 

[Vincent Kars]

you search through these comments?

Yes, I can do a tag wide search or limit the search to a specific tag or simply have the comment tag in list view.

 

[AnalogSteph]

I keep various playlists (mostly nonclassical and classical, but also internet radio, stuff from teh interwebz and vinyl rips) that are being added to chronologically. I am mostly an album person, but when I have some individual "hit tracks" I will group them together in clusters for a better chance f finding them again. I've had better luck remembering things by year of release or time added to collection than artist names at times... my memory for names is and has always been terrible. (My list of favorite artists on my RYM profile will occasionally serve as a refresher, or my last.fm profile.)

It's a real bummer that there doesn't seem to be a standard tag for origin country, I could REALLY use that. Meanwhile, my genre tags (aside from classical) are mostly a mess that I haven't bothered to clean up as I tend not to be looking for music by genre much anyway, although I wil try to pick something sensible when ripping CDs myself, and use the comment field for label and catalog #. (With a vinyl rip I would also include information about the setup.)

I do not have enough classical releases or instrumentals to be overwhelmed by them yet.

 

[sergeauckland]

Yes, but for whatever reason I find it rather less memorable than physical artwork.


and you search through these comments?

@sergeauckland Maybe my OP wasn't clear, but do you always know the name of the track/piece you want to play...you are never at a loss for the title or do you employ some kind of method to help you remember?

If I want a specific track, then yes, I remember the name, ditto with album, but then that's not the way I chose what to play with physical media. Even then, I would scan my shelf of albums or CDs, which were always in alphabetical order by artist, and found something I fancied. I very seldom went the other way round, that of thinking of a track or album and finding it to play.

S.

 

[Digby]

I never could remember the name of tracks, especially instrumental ones, in the days of physical media so nothing has changed there. I don't really play 'tracks' unless on random play. I play albums by artists and the tracks are what they are, i.e.

Really, that is interesting. Surely there are tracks on albums you dislike or, at best, feel indifferent to and yet you just listen to them all the same?

Maybe this is a generational thing, as I know skipping tracks was harder on LPs (well, you had to get out of your seat) and cassettes (very annoying rewinding and fast forwarding to get to just the right point), but you really don't skip or omit tracks from albums? Ever since CDs became the main music format I have skipped tracks I don't like or am not in the "right mood" to hear.

I very seldom went the other way round, that of thinking of a track or album and finding it to play.

Again, how interesting. I often feel (perhaps something like an addict would, but I consider music addiction relatively safe) a compulsion to listen to a certain track (or, if classical, piece/symphony/concerto) and then will often listen to similar tracks by the same artist, or similar tracks by different artists and branching out from there - if I can't find what I'm after, I'm not fully satisfied with a 'this one will do instead' approach.

Funny how I ask a question about how people organise their music and we get into the psychology behind music and different approaches to listening. I'd not even really considered that other people would do it in a more, uh, orderly(?) fashion, rather than just relying on the inspiration of the moment.

 

[Vincent Kars]

A nice one is "number of plays".
Switch to track view and sort by this tag will tell you a lot about your favorites.

 

[Timcognito]

To me its all about the album art and I love all kinds of music so categorizing it in the standard genre labels is often difficult. I know this probably not typical but best for me is by the release date and viewing the the album art or alphabetically by the artist name also viewing the album art. My mood dictates the first choice which in turn will stimulate a second by accepting or changing a theme and third... The idea that I'm in a rock or jazz or classical mood as the the first thought is rare except for presets on car radio, which is a quick test, accept or reject thing. Having a large tablet with a GUI as a remote has changed the way I interact with with my 1200+ releases. My Lps are a different system that is rarely used.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I use a hierarchical directory system. genre/artist/album. I remember artist names fairly well. Compilations are /genre/album.

 

[JRowland]

I'm always looking for new music, I like things outside my normal rock and roll that grab me for some reason or another. I made playlists and I just jam the song in one if I like what I hear. Simple names are easier for me to remember what's what. I used Bass, Envelopment, Soundstage, Sleep, Uncorrelated Bass, Decorrelated Rock, Sub Blend, Speaker Test, Instrumental, Pop, Fun Songs, etc. Works for me.

 

[bluefuzz]

Surely there are tracks on albums you dislike or, at best, feel indifferent to and yet you just listen to them all the same?

Of course there are songs I like more than others but I almost never skip tracks from an album I've chosen to listen to and certainly never when I used physical media. There are certain genres that lend themselves better to being mixed up in a playlist – generally the more pop/song oriented genres – and which I would prefer to hear in that manner (another advantage of streaming). For example I've probably rarely, if ever, listened to a whole Ramones album all the way through but I would still enjoy hearing the odd track on a 70's power pop playlist. But I'd probably still listen to the whole playlist without skipping.

I think once an artist has entered my musical 'sphere of interest' then I have somehow bought into their whole oevre, warts and all. I can easily listen to half a dozen whole albums in a row (without skipping) from a single artist if I'm in the zone. And then not listen to them again for a decade ...

 

[Defi]

I am using Apple music and while there are some times I absolutely hate it, being able to keep my library in sync between my desktop, phone, and laptop is worth it in my experience. But one day I hope to leave it behind as it has done some really weird stuff a few times.

As for the organization and revisiting: I am constantly adding new albums and so I basically keep track using the "recently added" tab which will list them in chronological order that I added them. If I like it, I favourite it. If I'm not sure, I leave it and try again later. If I don't like it.... it isn't there anymore. I have mental bookmarks for how far back I've "relistened" and some days I'll go that route, other days I'll pick up where I left off on things I haven't listened to yet... those are my algorithms for days when I can't decide what to listen to.

I mostly listen to albums and not just tracks. The exception is for loud listening sessions where I am just in it for the dopamine and will chase the high. Otherwise I like to give the artist the benefit of showing their vision, as most of the stuff I listen to is not a collection of singles but thematically glued and requiring the context of the other songs to achieve its full effect. I also have a bit of an ADHD problem so forcing myself to listen and be patient is a skill I can use music to hone.