Do You Add ALL Your Music To iTunes Library?

[mjones185]

Hello,

I'm building an iTunes library of all my music. I have about 250K MP3s from all my CDs, I have a few thousand.

I'm struggling with the process (OCD), I can't decide if I want to add every song from every CD or only the songs I like 3-5 Stars or add all of it. I'm one that I only like a few songs from each CD and never listen to the others. As I'm building the library I'm having a hard time with the thought of not having a complete CD in the library, I know this sounds silly so I'm looking for your thought process/reasoning you've put into building your library?

Thanks...

Mike

 

[GGJstudios]

If you're never going to listen to some songs, what's the point of adding them to your library?

 

[Menel]

Yes.

Loooong ago when I first got roped in with iPod Nano. I ran my music collection first through Picard MusicBrainz to wipe and uniformly tag. Second, through MediaMonkey using Trixmoto's batch art and genre script plugins. Third, through MixMeister's BPM tagging application. Finally after checking, into iTunes.

Activated iTunes Match on a 13k track collection and been great.

 

[MrMister111]

Personally I would do them all.

This way you have them all backed up and digitized. Also to only chose the ones you listen to just use playlists and smart playlists.

When importing them star rate them, and use a smart playlists to add them all to a playlist for your choice.
My opinion....

 

[ChristianVirtual]

I would do them all, too. Your taste might change overtime; or you just want to listen to a full album. Then would be nice to have it. Fill the gaps later is more pain.
You still can use play lists to selective copy file to iDevice or just to listen ...

If storage is not a problem go for the full set.

Looks like MrMister111 was faster with the same opinion.

 

[JoshBoy]

I am super pedantic with my collection. I only like having full albums so if I only like the one song I get the full album on there. It helps at times for different events where others may like songs I don't like.

 

[NewAnger]

If you're never going to listen to some songs, what's the point of adding them to your library?

I have hundreds of songs purchased from iTunes that I have never listened to since I bought them in 2007. Back then I bought the Complete Bob Dylan, Complete U2, Complete Depeche Mode and have yet to listen to about 80% of them. I bought them to have complete collections or what was complete at the time.

Occasionally I'll play something from one of those bands and wonder why I never heard it before. This is why I have them as well as on my 160GB Classic.

 

[GGJstudios]

I have hundreds of songs purchased from iTunes that I have never listened to since I bought them in 2007. Back then I bought the Complete Bob Dylan, Complete U2, Complete Depeche Mode and have yet to listen to about 80% of them. I bought them to have complete collections or what was complete at the time.

Occasionally I'll play something from one of those bands and wonder why I never heard it before. This is why I have them as well as on my 160GB Classic.

I do the same thing, as I like complete albums, but not with 250,000 songs like the OP. Also, the OP indicated they would never listen to some songs, as opposed to rarely or that they might listen to them in the future. If you have the storage and want to do the work, by all means do it.

 

[MCAsan]

I imported around 400CDs over a couple of days. As I remember, that used around 40GB. The wife and I share the library, put some of genres on our iPhones and iPads. We use Airplay to send music to various rooms in the house. Once a CD is imported...it goes into storage. Naturally, the Itunes library part of the Time Machine backup to Time Capsule.

 

[soloer]

I am super pedantic with my collection. I only like having full albums so if I only like the one song I get the full album on there.

That's an expensive quirk!

 

[ReggaeFire]

Hello,

I'm building an iTunes library of all my music. I have about 250K MP3s from all my CDs, I have a few thousand.

You must have way more than a "few thousand" CDs! I have about 4000 CDs all fully ripped into iTunes and I've not yet broken 100k tracks! (Close, it's like 85k).

If you already have them ripped, why not put them in iTunes?

As a quirk of the way my library was built I have two separate libraries, a complete lossless collection where I have the full albums, including all the duplicate tracks therein, and a smaller one (that I really use day-to-day) of AACs with duplicate tracks deleted.

 

[matrix07]

250K is about 30K albums.

 

[S.B.G]

Hello,

I'm building an iTunes library of all my music. I have about 250K MP3s from all my CDs, I have a few thousand.

I'm struggling with the process (OCD), I can't decide if I want to add every song from every CD or only the songs I like 3-5 Stars or add all of it. I'm one that I only like a few songs from each CD and never listen to the others. As I'm building the library I'm having a hard time with the thought of not having a complete CD in the library, I know this sounds silly so I'm looking for your thought process/reasoning you've put into building your library?

Thanks...

Mike

All my music is in my iTunes library. I haven't owned a CD in several years now. After I added the tracks to iTunes, I sold the discs in a yard sale. So now I only buy the tracks I want/like.

 

[416049]

Yes, am right now at around 7000 and still going strong... however i still buy mostly cd's for the sake of quality.

 

[charlieegan3]

Yes, am right now at around 7000 and still going strong... however i still buy mostly cd's for the sake of quality.

Can't you just change the importer settings to import at a higher bitrate?

I have all my music in my library, except some tunes in spotify playlists but they technically aren't mine.

 

[416049]

Can't you just change the importer settings to import at a higher bitrate?

I have all my music in my library, except some tunes in spotify playlists but they technically aren't mine.

I rip all of my songs like lossless (ALAC) but if i understand correctly if i import an mp3 converted to ALAC quality with the same bitrate, wouldn't that mean a huge loss in sound?

The Hifi equipment i use is pretty high quality so differences between certain files can be heard

 

[ReggaeFire]

250K is about 30K albums.

I'd guess it's closer to 20k (based on a 12 track/album average), probably more like 15 or 16k (since lots of albums have up to 30 tracks). Still, I can't even wrap my head around importing that many albums. It took me a year to do 4000. And the physical storage of that many albums... wow.