Anyone hire a professional organizer to organize your music collection?

No, this isn't a joke. I have over 1000 LPs and well over 5000 CDs, all boxed up and put in storage units a few years ago. I'm going to be relocating to New York at the the end of the year, where storage costs are substantially higher. So my music collection will remain in storage until I can figure out what to do with it. It would be a huge help if I could find someone who could go through all the boxes, inventory everything and organize the collection. I have no idea if there are people out there who do this kind of thing for a living, but I figure this would be as good a place to ask as any.

 

I enjoy doing it myself too much.
I've never put anything in storage ...
I shuffle things around and make space.
Yes I am a nut lol

 

Half the fun is DIY.

 

I would be worried about Obi theft.

 

That's an actual job?

 

Back in the late 1980s I got paid to organise and file a couple of collections, it wasn't my taste musically, but getting paid to sort out other people's records was fun, I got one job via a record shop I frequented, the person I did it for had plenty of cash and not enough time, I'd almost forgotten that I did that until this thread appeared. As for my own records I really enjoy filing things away, just wish I had a really large space to get everything in one place.

 

Not if you don't have the time.

 

Theft is definitely a concern.

 

I've organized and catalogued collections of up to 20,000 pieces. This would be a dream job.

 

I guess we're all different in that way with different life situations; for me, it's the most fun way that I spend my time outside the context of the work day. In other words, it's how I relax.

 

Not organization but in the mid-70's I got hired twice by lawyers to value music collections for divorces. It was indeed kind of weird.

 

What?

 

I knew a professional organizer and she learned to NOT accept that type of job, because it can't be done to the customer's satisfaction. And most of the time, the customer doesn't have the infrastructure -- shelving, cabinets, etc. -- available to do much with the collection except leave it in boxes, whether it's books, magazines or music.

Most of her clients were wealthy people who wanted to move from, say, Washington, D.C. to a home in Tampa and have everything in place the day they moved in . . .

 

I'm an organizing nutcase. I would love a job like that except that a) New York is too far away and, b) that's essentially what I've been doing with my small book and LP business and helping do the same at my wife's bookstore since 2001.

 

I have definitely contemplated having someone come alphabetize my record collection. Am curious if anyone would actually do this at a price I'd be willing to pay. I also worry about quality control -- I am only interested in having someone do this because it is a big job -- and theft. Plus, I'd probably have to be there anyway, so am I really saving myself any time?

 

As others have indicated, you could probably find someone to do something for you, but I'm not sure from your post what you're hoping to accomplish. Your collection is in storage, and it's going to be in storage when you move to New York. Are you going to want to go back and pull certain albums out to listen to after you look at the list? Sell some to thin out the collection? What is the objective?

I hate to be that guy, but if you're not going to be able to listen to them anyway, maybe you should hire someone to sell them. Or, in the case of the CD's to rip them all to a computer so you could listen to them in New York without having the CDs be physically present.

 

I'm doing this now, BTW. I've decided to transfer my CDs, or at least those in single-disc jewel boxes, into DiscSox, which can contain everything (CD, front and back artwork with no folding) in a fraction of the space. It is very laborious and I'm only now seeing results several hundred discs into the project.

 

This. Music in storage is useless. Rip the discs, back up the drive, keep the truly valuable or favorite stuff and sell the rest.

Ditto the vinyl.

 

Ah, I want to do something like this with records already in my home, which I currently listen to and intend to keep.

 

Unfortunately, the collection is located in Arlington, VA, and you're in Peoria, IL. I don't think I could pay you enough to cover relocation costs.

 

I hate to point out the obvious, but if I had time to do all that, I would have done it already. And once I'm out of state, it's not even an option. But if I can get the collection organized, I'll at least be in a better position to use a commercial ripping service. As for the vinyl, I'll have an easier time selling my collection to a dealer once it's been inventoried.

 

I go to Durham, NC semi-regularly to see my girlfriend and I'll be moving there by summer. That's a four hour drive. Not bad. I used to drive up to 14 hours a day escorting oversize loads. Feel free to reach out if you still need help in a few months.

 

DIY
I wouldn’t trust any one else.

 

I cataloged my entire collection. Over 2000 record albums and 400ish CDs. It was a fool's errand. Anybody that takes the OP's assignment is either a Saint or a masochist. It took forever to properly catalog them. The only way to make that job a bit more painful would be to rip and tag the 5000 CDs to FLAC. I honestly have no regrets about doing this for myself, but, you couldn't afford me to do it for somebody else.

 

Most of us are nuts here.........!!

I also LIKE to organize my music collection. See "High Fidelity" for a spot-on example.....