Continuing with CDs?

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/mar/15/disc-go-should-you-get-rid-of-your-cds

CDs aren’t ugly

We recently ditched our CD rack (as part of a living room redesign) and stashed away most our CDs in storage bags like these. We kept a small batch out for quick access & "display" purposes.

The bags are obv. inconvenient if you dip deep into your CD collection a lot, but... well, we don't.

I'd settle for the plastic wallets like you get in 2nd hand record shops

CDs aren’t ugly

― brimstead, Monday, 15 March 2021 18:56 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

This ^. Really annoys me when articles make this lazy claim.

haha, yeah, what is ugly about them?

Jewel cases use to be nicer, I’ll admit that

ive gotta admit that i've always disliked how a shelf full of vinyl usually looks like a nondescript row of brownish paper files with some thin shards of color here & there. at least CDs have artwork and color on the spines that you can actually see and which is inviting to scan with your eyes.

Updated design on the CD shelves: just going down one wall w/ 7 units for a total , added a toekick, total capacity around 5,500 and will see how that goes, and get more later (the rest stay in boxes)... pic.twitter.com/UaBBS3w2m7

— Musicophilia (@musicophiliamix) March 15, 2021

I seen a few people upthread saying CDs are ugly and I never understood that

I agree that shelves of vinyl can look messy - especially as the spines get worn & torn. At least CDs tend to be clean and neat, and the CD-size box sets tend to have interesting details on the outward-facing edge, etc.

(Oddly sized box sets are more problematic... I've never found a great way of storing/displaying my One Kiss Can Lead to Another "shoebox," as cool as that packaging is.)

(Those specially sized "just a little too tall" digipaks also drive me nuts!)

Whenever I see an article about music formats that includes "CDs are ugly" as a given "fact" in the first paragraph, I immediately stop reading.

I'm a CD fan and defender but CD packaging can be really ugly. You ever look at a pile of broken, discarded, possibly cracked jewel cases?

In photographs of people's collections, it's always easy to spot someone's Impulse records section.

Or anything on Island records.

Well, of course, but by that metric any packaging would look awful if you're abusing it to the point of cracking/damaging it.

Not saying I'm not annoyed by Amazon's recent insistence on doing virtually nothing to protect CDs shipped in jewel cases, but that isn't the fault of the format. I'm also a digipak guy, I think they look better and take up less shelf space, but I know a lot of people dislike them.

I like digipaks b/c they're cool & unique, but appreciate how worn jewel cases can be swapped for new ones.

i wish someone would fuse jewel cases with whatever nanotechnology they use in digipaks to prevent the tiny teeth of the cd spindle holder thing from shattering and rattling around inside like tiny reminders of your negligence and disrespect

I had an idea for a product years ago that would be a stick-on teeth ring. When some of the original broke off you'd break the rest off then press on one of my products.

I'd buy a case of those

that's a great idea!

Dead now. Ah, lost opportunities.

that's too bad. These are pretty pricey. https://www.amazon.com/Adhesive-Silicone-Attachable-Reusable-Crossdressers/dp/B00H2S83N4

I think I had noticed that even with a tooth broken off there still could be some plastic sticking up, which would make the press on ring a little higher, possibly enough to prevent the case from closing.

I was gonna ask about that...

I think I considered including a little grinding disk to make the area flush before putting the new ring on, but figured at that point people would rather just get a new case.

Never liked digipaks with the plastic disc holder inside, but vinyl replica CD gatefolds a la Fushitsusha Live 2 are pretty nice. I wish that had been the standard format from the beginning of the CD era. Also you can usually get 30 of them into a 25-count CD shipping box.

sorry to digress but Live 2 rules so hard, and yeah the packaging is great.

xp, yeah those are sweet, esp when they come with nice soft inner sleeves

don't like the vinyl replica CD sleeves, they're basically invisible on your shelf and prone to damage

agreed

they tend to scuff up the discs over time too

You do need rice paper inners for them yes

the very worst are the vinyl-replica sleeves that are like 3/4" taller than a jewel case and won't fit in like 99% of CD shelves, just fuck off with that nonsense

that's what I'm talkin' about!

I have a copy of Robbie Basho's The Voice of the Eagle like that, it's on the 'special shelf'.

yep, I actually have multiple "weird format" CD shelves/boxes:

1. cardboard-sleeve discs, like promos (in a box)
2. the aforementioned "taller" digipacks plus box sets etc (on a shelf)
3. longbox style box sets, a variety of shapes and sizes (on a shelf)

oh and:

4. "regular" CD box sets, an entire standalone shelf

and I had room for three outliers as well, displayed on the top of various shelves:

1. complete "20' to 2000" Raster-Noton set w/magnets
2. the aforementioned "One Kiss Leads To Another" hatbox
3. Uz Jsme Doma's popup book/CD set

lol exactly, fucking Vanguard with their oversized CD sleeves

see also:

Beta-Lactam Ring
Thrill Jockey
Alice Coltrane "Universal Consciousness"

etc

Back in the mid 2000s, every Rhino box set seemed to come in some unwieldy size and shape — those Genesis catalog boxes, the Talking Heads white plastic brick, tons of others. That was back when I was still in a position to get physical promos of things and I never had anyplace to put them.

of course the real LPD heads have a treasure chest for all their LPD curios anyway

I love CDs even though I have all music at the tip of my fingertips with Spotify. However, I feel as if I personally connect more with what I'm hearing through personally owning it and it makes me appreciate it in its entirety.

I despise Spotify and will put up with pretty much any level of inconvenience in order not to use it. Fortunately Bandcamp lossless has saved me, at a time when postage hikes priced me out of buying physical media from overseas.

my CD love is really suffering from not being able to browse the used bins

How It Started:

I love CDs even though I have all music at the tip of my fingertips with Spotify. However, I feel as if I personally connect more with what I'm hearing through personally owning it and it makes me appreciate it in its entirety.

How It's Going:

I despise Spotify and will put up with pretty much any level of inconvenience in order not to use it. Fortunately Bandcamp lossless has saved me, at a time when postage hikes priced me out of buying physical media from overseas.

also from upthread, soundslike I dig the updated design... toekicks, I feel seen

This is the most inconveniently packaged CD that I own – it’s almost comical:

http://www.teenbeatrecords.com/images/items/075bx.jpg

(I also have a Red Krayola live CD that came attached to the inside rear cover of a magazine-sized booklet written in French, IIRC)