Continuing with CDs?

thanks Raven and Gerald, I guess I will order a batch and see how I go

It’s worth noting that the vulnerable part of a CD is the label side - that’s the stamped audio with a thin metal coating and then lacquer on top. The play side is thick polycarbonate and can be buffed out quite deeply. But once a seller taped a rare CD I bought into the tray for “safe postage” and the tape lifted off the label, the lacquer and the metal, so the disc was totally unplayable.

Very true. The worst came from Nimbus's pressing plants. For a long time their lacquer formulation was pretty terrible - it got sticky and attracted dust and debris, but it was also risky to stick in certain CD sleeves, especially ones that had no cloth liner. (I want to say PVC sleeves could be especially destructive.) If you tried cleaning the under running water, the lacquer actually immediately absorb the water and would break apart and rinse off. Sometimes there was another layer of lacquer that would remain intact so the metal substrate would stay the same, but I've had one disc where the metal actually began to dissolve around the hub. Nimbus eventually changed their lacquer formulation, but you can always spot the old one - when it's humid, just touch the hub area where there's no data encoded, and you see how sticky it is.

Also be careful with plastic sleeves and CD-R's. Some plastic material like PVC can potentially stick to CD-R labels, usually the early "printable" formulations on some brands like Kodak and Mitsui, and it'll actually peel off the label WITH the reflective layer underneath, rendering a large part of the disc unreadable.

*cleaning them

Guess I can't really continue with CDs--finally got all the ones that had been in storage at my folks place the last 20 years, and it's filled up my shelves almost completely...

https://www.twitter.com/musicophiliamix/status/1615902036784222213

It's a beautiful sight to me, I have to admit. As close as one can get to seeing the good parts of my whole life laid out in one place. Funny how I can still remember when and where I bought so many of them.

Same. I look at all my CDs stacked up and see nothing but stories and memories. I look at my books (a huge percentage mainly unread) and see nothing but guilt and shame.

Crazy to look at 30 years, all in one spot:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fm2txKeXEAAx5st?format=jpg&name=large

My wife and I live in a wide-open loft apartment, so it's super cool of her to be open to letting my CDs dominate an entire wall.

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/81591a0f-f116-4280-8e3b-2de79aea9d30/gif

Bah. I suck at this.

damn fine looking wall of discs there, love to see it

I had a similar set-up for awhile, possibly the same exact number of shelves too, but due to various reasons, I had to toss the shelves (all damaged anyway) and replace them with revolving towers. I miss the wall of music though, I was hoping to one day put in better shelves (like after settling down and buying a home) and having an audio-visual equivalent to those impressive home libraries I'd see in some of the fancy brownstones I'd pass by at night (always prominently displayed in the large, well-lit ground floor windows).

A most excellent CD, rug and cat combo.

Sorry you lost your shelves. I actually never had my CDs on shelves, between leaving my childhood home at 18 and last year at 41--moved too often, and never had a spare wall for them. And it took me a long time to find sturdy, deconstructable/movable shelves. I even designed my own and tried to commission a cabinet maker to build them (he flaked out). So for all those years they basically got ripped and immediately boxed up.

Sort of sad that by the time I actually had space, stability, and found shelves--I'd basically gone to 97% digital purchases on Bandcamp. Probably bought fewer than two dozen CDs each the last three years--not long before, would've been hundreds a year. But then again, there's room for literally about 30 more CDs on the shelves--so maybe it was time.

If I continue with CDs any further, I'll probably have to start instituting a one-in-one-out policy.

(Getting perilously close to filling up the blu-ray shelves, too--which I've had a huge resurgence of buying in the last two years, replacing dozens of old DVDs and buying probably 200+ more, after getting a UST 4K projector because the apartment had a 17' high blank white wall and I just had to...)

I've had a huge resurgence of buying in the last two years, replacing dozens of old DVDs

Been doing the same. But they all go in binders and I file the booklets (which given what I normally buy means I have a lot of good ones) in a bookcase.

Yeah, I'm in a similar boat with DVD's though now UHD's are complicating things! I was upgrading too many things that to make things cost effective, I had to start weeding out titles - like, do I really want to keep this and continue upgrading or just drop it from the library? It gets annoying with the large box sets where you have to buy films you weren't planning to but otherwise must in order to acquire the rest.

wow that is some wall

great looking cat too

going to be visiting NYC from UK in april - where's the best spots for CD shopping?

Academy on W. 18th

Yeah definitely Academy, ESPECIALLY if you're looking for classical, that selection of CD's is pretty enormous. Outside of classical music, they still have a good selection of CD's, but it's kind of sad that's as good as it gets in NYC now - Amoeba in Los Angeles probably has 100 times the selection, and virtually any Newbury Comics in any suburb of Massachusetts will be even greater too.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, NYC is definitely not a destination stop for CD shopping. Definitely is for vinyl though.

book-off midtown https://www.bookoffusa.com/bookoff-49-w-45th-ny-store/

they've got lots of CDs, probably not the super rare stuff but also better than your average thrift store

https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/Js4Y6NavKn9vdx3MVLY2nw/o.jpg

If all these rumors I'm seeing about vinyl prices about to skyrocket in the next year or so, I wonder if the CD renaissance will be sooner than people expected.

lol I hope so, then I can sell them

Saw this story from earlier this month about Canadian labels, can't imagine this wouldn't also impact US prices:

Independent music stores shared the heartless news Wednesday that major record labels like Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada are increasing their prices for vinyl albums two days after Valentine’s Day.

“So, Universal, Warner (and likely Sony soon) are all raising their prices considerably over the next month,” Ottawa music store Vertigo Records shared on Instagram Wednesday afternoon.

“We always keep out prices low, but will have to adjust,” the store added. “The major labels need to get every last drop of blood from that stone. Sorry!”

I live in the Boston area, and the CD stock at the Newbury Comics stores has seriously shriveled over the last few years, to make way for more vinyl and tchotchkes. Like, the entire CD section now is typically about 8' wide, including all genres.

Yeah, seems like it's happening to so many chains. The few Barnes and Nobles that still even have a music section are increasingly turning space over to vinyl. A new B&N recently opened near me and I was happy to see they still even had a CD section at all, even if it was only a 4'-0" wide stretch of shelf space. Bafflingly, however, they stocked it by jamming every inch with only the spines facing out. Hello neck pain for browsing.

Some stores still have incredible CD sections. I really loved Music Millennium in Portland when I was out there, they managed to have ample space for huge floor space for both formats.

Music Millenium is one of the last places I've found in the last 5 years to still have a good CD selection. Not long before, the Rough Trade in Brooklyn still had lots of good CDs, but I'm guessing they've gone all vinyl since moving into their smaller Manhattan space. I'm hoping Dusty Groove in Chicago hasn't gone all-vinyl... Ah, for the days when Other Music's mostly-CDs shelves weren't even the best in New York. Would be a miracle to see well-curared CD shelves, today. Guess I need to take a trip to Japan...

The Barnes & Noble near me moved from a large space to a smaller space a few hundred feet away recently. Before the move, cashiers told me that the movie/music section would not be in the new location, and that’s technically true, as the original section was a good chunk of the store (albeit one that shoppers rarely visited).

In the new space, there’s a sort of CD/vinyl shelf or wall stocked with a bare minimum of music that they know will sell, primarily Taylor Swift. But there’s also a floor to ceiling shelf that’s entirely k-pop CDs.

Haven't been to the Dusty Groove store in a few years but they still show a good number of new/used CDs on their weekly mailout. Another place in Midwest that's still great for CDs is Dearborn Music near Detroit.

Yes, Dearborn Music is absolutely amazing for CDs. My hometown! And where I first bought music (45 rpm singles) many years ago.

Silver Platters (3 locations in WA) is great for both new and used CDs, and used CDs are usually in good or great condition

going to be visiting NYC from UK in april - where's the best spots for CD shopping?

― maelin, Friday, January 20, 2023 8:25 AM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

yesterday I went to the Jazz Record Center for the first time in a few years. It's on the 8th floor of a building on W. 26th St, so it feels off the beaten path and like a bit of a time warp. mostly older folks in there. anyway i didn't look through it much but they have a decent sized CD section, mostly jazz as implied by the name. although they have new and used CDs together, which bugs me.

I think I bought a Mingus CD box set there in the mid 00s. It was really a weird setup iirc, like it's in a random old office building. Does the elevator just dump you off inside or am I making that up?

No, there's a hallway and a door into the shop. there must be other things in on the same floor.

Bought my first CD in a long time recently, tricky’s nearly god album (not on streaming) and it was only $2. A steal.

Silver Platters was where I bought my first CDs when I was a Seattleite. Happy to hear they're still extant.

although they have new and used CDs together, which bugs me.

There was a point where that bugged me, but at this point I actually prefer things this way, as long as they do a good job of delineating new and used CDs at a glance. Especially since more and more people started dumping their CD collections, I'd prefer to only have to look in one location for, say, all of the Miles Davis they have, new and used. The best stores will have like a "Miles Davis" divider, then a sub-divider within between the new and used product.

Recently bought a new CD for the first time in like 10 years or more I think. Was very nostalgic...

I inherited one of those little Bose CDs players recently and hooked in up in my office. More enjoyable than headphones for me. Sounds better than it looks.

Re: NYC: just remembered Westsider Records on W. 72nd - they're definitely CD-heavy. Might be worth calling ahead to check on genre.

In October I sold early my entire record and CD collection to a store for 12 grand. It’s paying for my wedding, but I can’t lie it stings a little. But my collection was becoming a burden rather than a joy and moving was the last straw. I’m happy with less, I am convincing myself. It’s like mourning a pet.

in my will i am going to have to put an apology clause re my cd collection for my lads.
i am like a secret hoarder, with boxes and boxes hidden all over the house/attic so that they are not on display to the casual visitor.
there are a lot of of special/$$ cds throughout the collection but i know that they will just dump the lot.
that said, i have put my FAX collection into a special box and explained the situation.

Crazy to look at 30 years, all in one spot:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fm2txKeXEAAx5st?format=jpg&name=large

My wife and I live in a wide-open loft apartment, so it's super cool of her to be open to letting my CDs dominate an entire wall.

― Soundslike, Thursday, January 19, 2023 7:24 PM (one week ago)

Another box of about 150 more showed up, somehow separated from the other 8 boxes my folks sent with the last of my CDs, and messed up the whole shelves, because I had room for about +/- 30 more. So piled as many more small box sets as I could on the top. Bit stilleans I'm going to have to get rid of maybe 80 to 100... First cull I'll have done since my early 20s...

I'll probably just try giving them away to the one shop in all of Rhode Island that still sells CDs. Combined with the doubles I already culled out, bound to be some really good stuff.

For any nerds who like lookey-louing through other people's collections (like I do), here are all my CDs (well, minus the 150 that showed up yesterdsy and the hundred-odd that seem to have gone missing)

https://www.twitter.com/musicophiliamix/status/1616208899887230976

my physical collection is much smaller (according to discogs it's like 600 pieces which sounds surprisingly big) but i was still able to cut a couple hundred off a few years ago pretty easily by feeling confident about what I really don't need to hear ever again (but could via the internet anyways). Do you miss some things you got rid of in your 20s cull.. or am I missing the point?

I think I still love most of the music I've ever loved, but I dunno, some detritus builds up. And it's not as if I'm only hanging onto the alll time faves, that would be boring

Weirdly enough, I ran across an email from 2005 with a list of the CDs I sold at the time (partly to fund a move across country) and yeah, there were a good number I would've liked to still have. Looking through last night to begin culling and honestly there weren't a lot I could readily identify as chaff from the wheat, or "detritus". Since I have almost everything ripped and don't actively pull out the CDs to play, it's all a bit abstract, I guess.

But I like not culling the music based on my taste at a given time--I tend to find that many things return to personal relevance at some later date (for example, recently reconnected with a Geoff Farina album I would likely have jettisoned at 25 in my anti-indie zeal, if it'd sold for the $3 I was asking; found it clean and affecting, now). So now I'm eying to cull a lot of 2010s neo-post-punk that leans more "darkwave" or Joy Divisiony, as even the original era post-punk of that flavor was never my favorites. But imagine in 10 or 20 years they might speak to me more.

All very 1st world "problems," obviously. But I find collecting music is like collecting versions of ourselves over time, and I'd prefer my collection not just reflect my current self, but the sum total, the detours and cull du sacs included.

I had a habit of buying used LPs that I kinda liked rather than new ones that I knew I liked, so I have a lot of mildly appreciated LPs that I should get rid of now (Swedish death cleaning idea). But I have a lot of stuff that I don't like so much now but loved when I was younger that I want to hang on to, for the same reason - that was "me" way back then.

And same with CDs, since is the CD thread.