[chandler75]

I currently sort my collection by film title, but I'm thinking it would make more sense to sort by composer/band. On the other hand, stuff like DWR releases are so unique, that they sort of deserve their own section (and they look good sorted together). But then I would hate to split up my Carpenter collection...

Any thoughts?

[reddye6]

I incorporate both -- alphabetize by composer/band and by title -- into my collection. When I get a soundtrack, I apply the rule of "What method will make it easier for me to find this release in the future?" So currently I have Philip Glass soundtracks under "G," but many one-off-composer soundtracks by film. Usually what this means is that, over time, I may end up moving a composer's soundtracks out of title and organizing them by last name.

I used to get caught up in the method of categorizing, trying to apply a rule that would cover all scenarios and ensure that I could find releases easily. Then I realized that I'm not a lending library, and the only person who is going to be leafing through my albums, let alone care, is me. So I do what feels right, and I don't worry about inconsistencies, even if I have some within the composer (I may have started out by film and then moved to composer but didn't re-organize the ones still ordered by film).

Ultimately, when I get Alzheimer's, it'll all be sold off or thrown in the trash. So I'll just gear it toward me!

[thedeepness]

By year the movie was released, except Death Waltz releases which have their own section by order of release.

[siforster]

I sort my soundtracks in exactly the same way I sort my other records. They're over there, somewhere.

[ghostfires]

i sort all my vinyl by style of music. How do I sort soundtracks then? I don't really have to worry about that, as I almost never buy actual soundtracks. I have lots of film scores, which I separate according to label (Mondo, Death Waltz, Varese Sarabande, etc)...and if it's an odd score that doesn't quite fit in with those, I simply separate into the category of music the majority of the album would fall under.

[monsterworship]

Have soundtracks and misc things in their own section sorted alphabetically by movie title.

[4000days]

I'm with Si. All of my vinyl is complete chaos. I managed a record store for 10 years, and still buy somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 records a week. There is no possible way for me to maintain my collection at this point.

I live in a pretty small apartment, and keep most of my vinyl in a storage unit. I'll go to the unit and just open a random box sometimes - or look on the shelving I have and grab some stuff to bring home and play. BUT...the reason I'm in a small apartment now is that we(my better half and I) are saving money to buy a decent house, with a record ROOM. Once I've got that, I have a feeling the best I'll be able to do is sort by genre - so at least I'll know that all of my soundtracks are in the same place. I have dreams about being as organized as some of you, but I honestly don't know how you manage to do it.

[fishead]

Soundtracks only make a small part of my collection. I keep most things alpha by artist (so all my Popol Vuh soundtracks are filed with other Popol Vuh records)... but most soundtracks are in a separate section that's alpha by film title...


however... labels that I collect tend to be filed numerically by catalog number... so Death Waltz has a cube all to itself.

[Dr Slag PhD]

It may be fun to sort them by price.

[hncreature]

Alphabetical

[StrangeVices]

I do a weird combination of era and director. It kind of works.

[thenuthouse]

When I built shelves and got everything out of boxes and off the floor, I owned mainly soundtracks, so they just got sorted in with all the other compilation LPs I had.

Now that I'm buying more scores, I'm thinking that I may have to go with alphabetical by artist, sub-sorted by release date, then compilations by title, then soundtrack / scores by title -- mainly because it'll solve the inevitable score / soundtrack hybrid like TerrorVision or the like, where one side is songs by various artists, and the other film score.

I'm glad you folks are willing to discuss this, because when I bring it up with my wife, her eyes glaze over and I have to spend the next hour reminding her she married an interesting and clever man.

[maxvelvet]

I have mainly sorted by label, I mean, Mondo, DW, Silva Screen,... must stay together! I also keep together stuff like Goblin/Argento, the rest of my collection is sorted by genre (horror, thriller, sci-fi,...) from the oldest movie till the newest, at last is a big chaos but for me... it works!

[static14]

I have soundtracks/scores in their own separate section and they're organized by movie title.

[karloffsidekick]

I sort them neatly…

[palmat]

I keep my soundtracks in a section of their own. I usually go alphabetical BUT I've got the DW releases sorted according to their catalog number. Works for me.

And you could always go the High Fidelity route and sort your collection autobiographically, however that would work...

[chandler75]

I decided on this order and these three sections for my collection:

1. Soundtracks sorted by film title.

2. Scores sorted by artist/composer. (In case it's an album with both a score and a soundtrack, it goes under scores and the composer).

3. Select labels. So far DWR and Waxwork.

[NathanLurker]

Guys, I'm raising this thread from the dead for a second round. How do you guys sort your soundtrack now, 1 1/2 year later ?

I want to re-organise my soundtracks. but I feel I got no WIN situation.
Do I split the Tangerine Dream albums from their soundtracks ?
Do I split the videogames from the movies ? In which case I'd have to split Brian Reitzell's Hannibals from his Watch Dogs / Red Faction. What about his Solo album ?
If I go by Genre....do I split Jerry Goldmsith's albums ? Should I put Exorcist II : The Heretic with other Ennio Morricones' releases or with the first exorcist ? John Carpenter's The thing....with Ennio? Carpenter ?

what the hell do I do with the Killzone Shadow Fall ost ? it's half composed by Tyler Bates, Half composed by Lorne.

Fuck my life

/end of rant

[ghostfires]

I'm separating my soundtracks several different ways:

- all Tangerine Dream scores go with my TD collection, as I have almost every single record they've ever released on vinyl (excluding bootlegs).

- all Mondo, DW, OWS, and WW have their own sections. Mainly because of the amount of space these newer jackets take up!

- all Carpenter scores are grouped together

- all Johann Johannsson, Max Richter, and similiar modern-classic scores go under my section for modern classical

- finally all other soundtracks are separated into classic or modern

[texasvinyl]

My OST (and vinyl in general) has outgrown my storage space, so my OST collection is organized somewhat chaotically.

--Waxwork, Mondo, Death Waltz and One Way Static currently occupy two shelves, sorted by cat #.

--Newer and newly-reissued original scores occupy another two shelves, sorted alphabetically by film/show title.

--Italian & Euro scores take up another two shelves, organized in various ways (some by label, some by composer etc)

--Compilation soundtracks & blaxploitation OSTs have a shelf

--"A & B Tier" classic OSTs are in the last shelf I use for soundtracks.

--"C & D Tier" OSTs are kept in a big wooden crate on the floor.

I keep a big 4x4 Expedit for modern non-OST stuff, a 2x2 for jazz, a 2x2 for soul, and another 2x2 & some crates with sections for blues, funk, disco, electro, & funk-jazz. And a few crates of house/trance/hip hop 12" singles for good measure.

[chiefbrody]

I get laughed at for thinking about such things, so I'm glad there are like-minded souls here.

My vinyl collection largely mirrors my long-standing CD filing system:

1. By artist, then album by release date (if I have multiple reissues, the reissue goes by date of original release next to the other copies).
2. Compilatons by title
3. Soundtracks/scores by movie title. If the soundtrack/score is by a single artist, it still goes with soundtracks.
4. Christmas albums! hahahaha.

However, I subscribe to the Third Man Records Vault, and within my vinyl collection I sort them by cat #, and those are slotted in between 1 and 2. They're almost all single artist, so I can see what I was thinking, but there are comps in there too, so I think it makes more sense to have them at the end. For soundtracks I dip in and out on DW, and I just started with a couple, so I kept the CD system for filing, but my collection is building up enough that I think I might put all the DW records together now, even if it's incomplete (and I don't intend to fill in all the gaps).

So I think I might put all TMR and DW records at the end, as a new category, which will then include SD,DN and Christmas Evil. It also reduces the need to have a Christmas vinyl section! I'll just have those two and Phil Spector!

[DrRhythm]

35 years of record buying has resulted in collection chaos - mind you, I was quite organised until parenthood came along!!

[philball1974]

Mine has no order, although I tend to listen to a lot of albums in rotation so Ill have a section of maybe 20 albums that are getting played a lot and then every few weeks change it and I also have a section for stuff I've bought but not yet listened.

[freshoj]

after wrestling with many sorting schemes over the years, I now sort everything by recording date. filed by the date of the latest recording on the disk.

for most of my OST stuff, that is usually just 'best guessed' to be the movie's release year. For most of my jazz stuff, I can sort it by the session date.

Not sure I have any compilation soundtracks anymore, but if I did, it would still be by recording date - so if I had it, "Stand By Me" would be filed in the late 1950s, not 1986.

Each outer sleeve gets a little slip of card with the dates written on it for easy filing.

[toosoonjunior]

I think I am pretty lax when it comes to organizing. Granted, my collection is likely smaller than many of yours. I haven't counted, but I would estimate in the 400-450 range.

DW, WW, OWS, and Mondo are each sorted by cat #. Then I have an unsorted group of modern electronic music (BoC, Tycho, etc).

An unsorted group instrumental hip hop (Oddisee, DJ Shadow, etc).

An unsorted group of instrumental music (Balmorhea, Explosions in the Sky, Tired Tape Machine, etc). Cineploit releases are grouped together in this section.

An unsorted group of old original soundtracks (Superman, Alien, etc).

An unsorted group of modern soundtracks.

An unsorted group of classic soundtrack reissues. (Sex Fever, Phenomena, La Planete Savauge, etc)

An unsorted group of Philip Glass, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, etc.

An alphabetized group of local Dallas/Fort Worth rap/hip hop fromt he 80s and early 90s.

Then a Sound Warehouse crate of crap I want to sell.