The long march to ZERO

I've been collecting music on vinyl as long as I've been alive and CDs as long as they've been in existence. I have a server with enough music that it would take me 114 days to listen to every song once. About 6 months ago a friend back east shared that he and his friends were struggling to find good pressings at reasonable prices...yeah, its a familiar story of what there is being over inflated both in quality and price. I looked at my racks which were filled to the brim...I am 50, I work a ton, and while I do listen to records almost every day, I realize I have FAR more music than I will enjoy with any frequency over the remainder of my life. I started culling the heard... first it was the overpriced and sonically underwhelming 180g reissues...sold for barely half of what I paid... next were the paper thin 80s pressings that I'd had since college but mostly have been upgraded to definitive copies...Next were titles that I, frankly, bought but just don't listen to. ... while my wife enjoys records, I don't have anyone in my life I would leave this all to. The people I would consider are my age and i have no idea that anyone in their late 60s/70s would want a pile of vinyl dropped in their lap...So, I've decided that I am on the march to 0... I suspect I'll die with a couple hundred of my most prized possessions..... Honestly, I am trying to get rid of us as much stuff as I possible can as I get older. Every year a purge. To those here who know there is still a lot of living to do AND that the finish line seems a lot closer than it did 10 years ago, what's your plan for your music?

 

My sons will inherit it all... my youngest hates The Beatles so there's that... I assume much of what I own only matters to me.

 

I understand exactly what you are going through. I have culled my collection down from several thousand to about 500 now. I am 45 and don't have as much time as I used to to listen to my collection. I would far rather spend more time with my young son than listen these days. What changed it all for me was an experience a few years ago. A co-worker called me knowing my "vinyl addiction" and told me that his Father was moving into a retirement home and needed to get rid of his records because he had sold his house. They were free to a good home. I went over and he had about a thousand records in his basement. Nothing rare but really good stuff. We had a long talk about how life was short and that he never heard anybody on their death bed say " I wish I had/listened to more records". He told me not to collect things but rather collect experiences. Spend more time with your son doing things. I left with the records and a new outlook. I gave most of his stuff away to friends and started to sell some of my records. It was cathartic. Like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I kept only my favourites and I only listen to them now once and a while. Music used to be my life but now my life is my life. I sold one of my favourite records last week for $2,000. That money paid for my sons summer camp, an experience and memory he will have forever. I don't miss that record at all, especially when I see the smile on his face. Life is short, live it.

 

Two grand?! Congrats. Can we ask what lp it was?

I shall soon max out and will pare down, too. When I retire, I'm going to listen, then file or sell.

 

I'm not one to comment on vinyl collections as my inclinations lean more towards CD, which is considerably less bulky and space-greedy. That said, make sure you don't angst too much over who you'll leave the stuff to. There's a wide gulf between "I enjoy this, but nobody else would," and "I don't enjoy this but own it for some reason." Nothing wrong with streamlining, but don't part with stuff you'll regret tossing later. Remember, this is about fun - if you can have it with your collection, it's not a waste.

 

Well, yeah. I definitely see your point. I'm pushing 40 and right now my goal is to have this stuff around for my free time during retirement.

But I have no false notions that it won't be a PITA for someone when I'm gone. It will probably be a mixed blessing truth be told. I don't want to inherit and then sell a hundred firearms when my father passes but it's gonna happen. And it will be a lucrative exercise no matter how much I loathe it.

 

My godson is in my will. I'm sure he'll be making trips to Goodwill.

 

Selling lots and lots of vinyl and reinvesting in guitars instead, that way I get something to enjoy
and the kids get something easy to sell if they want to.

My guess is vinyl will peak then fall, and vintage/classic guitars will just go up, gradually.

 

At the stage of moving house where I'd gladly light a match under my LPs to save on the stress of packing, moving, storing for a couple of months, moving and unpacking again. I plan to move overseas permanently in the next few years and my gut feeling is that the vinyl won't be coming with me.

 

It was my Hank Mobley Blue Note 1568. I paid $50 for it 15 years ago.

 

I'm gonna get there soon. Waaay too many LPs, 45s and CDs on the shelf. No time for it all.

The plan? Sell what I can here (which is harder than one might think), keeping only a handful of LPs that have special meaning to me; the kids can inherit those. The rest maybe try to sell on eBay or just give away or donate and take the tax write-off.

 

Yep, that's the one! Again, well done!

 

If anybody thinks this is just about vinyl and CDs, dream on.

 

That's $2000 American my Canadian friend. These days that's about $10,000 Canadian!

 

There was a time when I thought my heirs/survivors might appreciate a moderately large and diverse music collection. By now, I've been disabused of that notion countless times.
Then, slowly the idea formed that maybe it might do the ages some good to go to the local library. I was disabused of that one by finding out how patrons treat physical media. There are still some notions floating around, but the easy answers are definitely not pretty.

 

I'm to the point where I don't care what happens to them when I'm gone.

Just bury me with my mono Rubber Soul.

 

Gosh, I remember you saying that you went from 8000 to 800, but now you are down to 500. Kudos!

Threads like these are inspiring for me. As I march into middle age, I feel it is important to pare down but I struggle a bit when it comes to my music. But I am trying...

To play the devil's advocate, aren't records or cds a storage or medium of experience as well? You could listen to some of this stuff via streaming or from a hard drive but arguably they are different experiences especially if you can discern sonic differences.

But you guys are right -- it's important to pare down to the essential stuff. Everything else is filler.

 

You guys must have bought stuff you were not heavily invested in. Each of my purchases represents either a ton of research or a surprise find that brings back good memories. I read (study) the liner notes to gain perspective about the artist and period as well as enjoying the music. I guess it comes from my enjoying history so much in school.

About ten years ago I culled a tenth of my CD collection that were mistakes. No culling since but I am running out of room and genres. I have to admit I play mainly new purchases (those have slowed too) but new purchases gives me something to look forward to.

When I go my wife will have the job of unloading the CDs onto Amazon. I can hear her now "Wow, $150 for this CD, the buyer must be crazy, oh well" as she stuffs it into padded bag (I have a ton of those too).

I hope you don't regret unloading your collections, it would be sad to rebuy them twenty years from now when your mood has changed, the prices will be astronomical.

 

No plan. It does not mean anything to anyone but me. I guess my record collection, as a living being, die with me. It will again become 'product'.

 

I have stage IV cancer, not sure where my finish line is, to be honest. But all my music will go to the only woman I've ever loved.

 

Well, listening to music IS an experience, and when I die, I'm sure I'll have music on, trying to eke out that little bit of last experience before lights off. Different strokes, I guess. No different than someone on their death bed wishing they had gone on more vacations.

 

I'm afraid I don't have enough cattle to thin any herd. I've thrown a lot of DVD-Rs I've determined I won't ever watch because I've so many, but my CDs and Lps (some 800 of them) are all essentials) I've a hard time determining what to listen to since I like them all so much. I narrow that choice to mood and genre to make the decision easier, but if I just picked one at ramdom I'll be in for a hell of treat

Personally I don't care a flying f@ck what happens to my stuff when I die. My wife will sell for pennies everything she doesn't like (most of it) or wanna keep . I don't have kids or plan to have any, and my nephews despise physical formats.

I'm currently 55 and who knows what'll be left of my audition or my will to listen to music in say, 10-15 years from now. So many things can change I don't even wanna think about it.

Pesimistic ? Nah. Just realistic

 

Dude, so sorry to read this. How old are you ?

 

51 next month. Too soon lol, but it is what it is. And thank you.

 

I totally get it. My wife and I pared down our huge collection of books when we moved to a small place here in New York. Now we have two medium-sized bookcases. I have less than 400 LPs, but still feel like that's a bit too much. I usually dump a dozen on to the sidewalk every other month just to make room for new stuff. I really would feel better with less than 300.