CD Catalog Software...Advice?

[danadotcom]

I'm approaching the 10,000 mark in my CD library (that's actually kinda clinical--I'm sick!) and am interested in cataloging all my titles with an EASY program. I've done some research on the net and have found a few contenders (Collectorz, Orange...) but thought I'd check here to see if any other collectors might have any recommendations. I primarily want to get an idea (and a grip) of what I have, want to keep, and want to get rid of--mostly what I NEED to get rid of. When I was around the 2500 mark I though I'd never have enough music. Now it's become burdensome, especially having moved this mess three times in five years! CDs are #*&@*$ HEAVY! Funny, but when I had a few hundred (if even that many) to choose I always had something to listen to. Now, with this much to choose from, I can never settle on anything!

So, if anyone might have some info to offer I'd be thrilled.

[Max Murdoc]

Been using Media Monkey for some time now and have no complaints. The basic package is free to download, Gold is $20.

You can tailor it to your needs, to some extent. I have about 50,000 mp3's on there right now (CD / LP) and I have recently upgraded.

[danadotcom]

I checked this out and it looks very helpful, but I'm a big fan of my Windows Media Player to play my media. I have a Sansa Fuze and it works perfectly with that. What I'm specifically looking for is a program that is essentially a database for all my music. I'm not looking for a program that stores, organizes, and plays media, just something that catalogs and allows me to search my library. But thanks for the info Max!!!

[bpdp3]

I realize it's old-school and probably very lame-sounding, but I've got my 6,000+ lp collection on Microsoft Excel. I spent an hour or so a day for about a month putting it in initially, just entering artist, title, format (12", lp, etc), then genre, (I'd add location if they weren't all in one spot)--

I can filter and sort for all my new wave 12"s for example or whatever. Basically I just wanted to remember what I had.

[danadotcom]

That's something I've been considering...but the idea of sitting at the computer manually entering all that data makes my back ache.

[Terim]

As far as information storage & retrieval options, I've liked Helium Music Manager. Very flexible, lets you keep track of just about anything. It let me let go of Musicmatch Jukebox.

The only weakness is the player software, and it sounds like that is not what you're looking for.

It does claim to support non-digital media, but I haven't tried that feature.

[mojowkn]

Hey, Dana. I remember I looked into this a few years ago but now can't remember what I found. I too have way too many of everything but have been too lazy to try to catalog it all.

In my new search today I found http://www.collectorz.com/music/, which looks about like what I remember finding previously. I liked the idea of the scannable barcodes, which would at least make the data entry on the regular releases easier, even if it won't help imports, promos, etc.

Curious to know what you end up doing -- please keep us posted!

[MARV]

I use Delicious for my DVD library. I haven't even begun to input my CD collection...way too daunting a task. I'll get around to it eventually. It's a pretty robust application and should serve you nicely.

http://delicious-monster.com/

<a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y271/marvymarv/?action=view¤t=tick.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y271/marvymarv/tick.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Max Murdoc]

[quote][i]Originally posted by danadotcom[/i]
<br>I checked this out and it looks very helpful, but I'm a big fan of my Windows Media Player to play my media. I have a Sansa Fuze and it works perfectly with that. What I'm specifically looking for is a program that is essentially a database for all my music. I'm not looking for a program that stores, organizes, and plays media, just something that catalogs and allows me to search my library. But thanks for the info Max!!!
[/quote]

It's not just a media player...it's a database that is searchable for a number of things. I can search by date of release, producer, label, engineer, cover artist...you can customize the IDtags to hold any info you would like to search for.