Various Ways To Organize Your Vinyl Collection

For every collector is a different organization method. Each person has their own way they organize their music collection to best suit their style.

There’s no ‘right’ way of organizing your vinyl collection but there are a few guidelines which will allow you to get a head start. These organization methods range from alphabetizing to the rarity of the vinyl. Each method has its own structure.

Organizing your vinyl collection can be very zen as you dig through old records and place them in order accordingly. Organizing will also allow you to quickly pick out a record if you’re in the middle of your mix – avoiding loss time trying to dig through hundreds of disorganized vinyl.

Now that you know where to buy vinyl records, it’s good to know how to store them.

Alphabetically

First up is the classic A-Z alphabetized method.

I don’t think I really need to explain this to anyone but I’ll give it a quick run down.

With alphabetizing, you’ll be organizing your records based on the artist or album name starting with the first letter and working your way forward. Alphabetical organization helps when you know exactly what album or artist you want to listen to while knowing the area in which to start searching.

Genre

Some DJs and vinyl collectors like to group their vinyl into genres of music.

Dividing your vinyl into genres has its obvious benefits – you have the type of music you’re spinning right within the same area. Organizing using genres will help break up large collections to allow a DJ to grab from the pile within the same genre without having to dig through the collection.

BPM

Other DJs also like to divide their albums into BPM.

BPM can often dictate the type of music being played. You know that Drum and Bass is a much higher BPM than House. With your records organized through their BPM, you’ll be able to structure your set based on the speed and no necessarily the genre of music.

Release Date

For those collectors that are very analytical, the release date is a great way to organize your vinyl collection.

Some people like to have their vinyl divided into the years in which the vinyl was released. Having the vinyl organized by release date will allow a listening to hear the progression of music throughout the years instead of simply pulling form the shelf and spinning.

For those who are very knowledgeable about music, organizing vinyl into years can also tell the person what instruments would be featured, genres and major artists of that time. It’s not necessarily the best way for a DJ to organize their records but it is a fun way.

Rarity

Many serious vinyl collectors organize their vinyl collections based on rarity.

Certain vinyl records sell for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars because they are so rare. Many serious collectors want to make sure these records are divided from others which may receive regular play. Although they may not plan to sell these records, it’s still a great way for them to break everything down into what they cherish.

For the DJ, some older vinyl presses are very hard to come by. If you divided your collection out into rarity, you would know that when you want to really drop an old school hit or something completely intense, you’d reach for the rare section.

Hybrid Methods

Finally, hybrid methods of organizing your vinyl is a very common practice amongst collectors and DJs.

Sometimes having your vinyl alphabetical or by release date doesn’t make as much sense in comparison to a hybrid mix of artist names and release date.

Drilling down further into an organization method would allow you eaily pick out certain tracks with ease due to the very specific organization method.

I often like to use a hybrid of Genre > Artist > Album Title when organizing my music. With this specific organization method I know exactly what genre I want to hear, which artist to choose from and the album of choice based on A-Z.

Where to go from here

With so many different ways to organize vinyl, it really does become something unique to each person. With a developed system for organizing, you’ll be able to quickly pick out a song for your DJ mix while keeping track of what you have.

Organizing your vinyl can be a zen experience at times, much like putting together a puzzle. Once you’ve completed your organization, you can now sit back and marvel at all its glory. Show it off to your friends – just don’t let them mix it up.

How do you organize your vinyl records? Let BDJ know, comment below!