If you're anything like me, you're a bit of a music nut and are pretty pedantic about your music collection. I've found this to be the case with most lovers of non-mainstream music.

So, tell us a bit about your collection. What formats do you collect, and how do you archive them? Do you have any quirks when it comes to archiving (for instance, all my discs HAVE to be the right way up in their covers)? How big is your collection, and do you have a room dedicated to vinyls or a massive external hard drive with tons of downloads you've never even listened to? Do downloads even count?

I'll go first:

I collect cds. Love vinyl, but can't play it and it takes up too much room. Also, I'm lazy, so don't like having to get up to turn the record over halfway through. And the fact that it deteriorates with every play means I'd never want to play them. Most of that goes for cassettes too, along with the shitty packaging. So it's cd's for me. And I don't think mp3s count. I don't download unless I cannot find the original for love nor money.
I have about 1500cds here (another 200/300 in South Africa). They are archived in alphabetical order by band name, and then chronologically within that. I disregard genres as that's too complicated. Where I can, I keep cd's in special / oversize packaging in their rightful place, but it really annoys me if it doesn't fit, in which case I end up with a random pile sitting on a shelf. All my cd's are filed so they face the same way. I have a corner of the lounge dedicated to my cd racks, and the missus has her own rack as she has generally poor taste and I don't want her cd's in amongst mine. Especially as she wouldn't adhere to the rules.
I have a few albums in mp3 format, but I don't bother with archiving them with covers or any other way other than alphabetized. This is because if it's good enough for me to bother keeping, it'll be something that I hope to acquire the physical release of, in which case it gets deleted.

I have over 500 CDs (not enough I reckon), I have a very small amount of vinyl, but not player! I usually pick up special editions if I can, I seem to have a bad record of damaging them somehow, but my Taake vinyl boxset is alright thankfully! I still have some cassettes kicking about but will tend to replace them with CDs now unless there are rare demos.

I don't keep them in any order and I don't have enough shelves so lots are in boxes which is a nightmare when it comes to trying to find something specific. I basically need my own house with more than one room too keep things in before I get this sorted!!

Downloads don't count!

Have around 1000 cds and not sure on vinyl but not vast amounts. Only vinyl i buy is limited editions and funky artworks and odd white label.

CD collection is organised by listening moods, so if i'm in the mood for mellow i have a section dedicated to that, not really genre based as in the heavy section there is gabba and metal etc... mixed in. Basically i can find stuff and no one else can.

Got a HDD packed with another 250 albums/eps and around 400 singles. This is mostly electric/break beat/dnb etc... (all official purchases i might add) and is shared with me and the missus as she a heavy electro/break beat/dnb fan.

Missus actual physical collection is collection of alsorts from pop, rnb, dance, classical, soul etc... but she teaches dance so it more work use.

No fucking way do downloads count! I could go and download all of Barry Manilow's albums tomorrow, wouldnt make me a fan though, and same goes for anyone who tries to pass themselves off as a fan of a band if they haven't invested any money in them.

I have a CD/vinyl collection of around 900. If you wait to the new year I'll have done my annual-end-of-year-recount-and-relist-arama so Im having to guess on the 900 mark a little based on last years total and what Ive bought this year. Roughly 750 is CD, 150 on vinyl (& 1 cassette tape - Winter "Eternal Frost"!). Ive recently moved my CD collection downstairs but it currently overflows from 2 of Argos' 350 CD shelf units, of course all listed by band order then chronologically within each band. I hate it when albums dont list release year if i dont know already so much so that i have to go to Metal encyclopedia to check!

Vinyls are amazing for so many reasons but I don't listen to them all that often now Im back from uni and theres no room for the vinyl player in my room (thats downstairs too). Slowly getting through copying them all to mp3 for ease of use. On top of the 750 'proper' CDs or so got a shitload (read: I dont know how many) promo CDs, magazine CDs and random other releases, probably themselves totally 200 at least.

When I eventually get my own place the music get more of its own dedicated space for I currently dont properly have anywhere to store the vinyl - it itself has overflowed from 2 travel crates that take about 60-70 each.

Only real music fans are obsessive as us geeks!

Why do people say downloads don't count?
Do you automatically presume because that is downloaded it must be illegal?
Some stuff is only released in digital format that you have no option but to download.

psh, you metal folk obviously don't realise how fortunate you are to have interest in a genre of music that can afford to do lots of vinyl releases and CD digipacks.

In the cases of people who do mass illegal downloading and nothing but when its largely (though its actually always) available in standard format or legal downloads then I struggle to see how that constitutes a real music fan. If its legal downloads, so of course theyve paid for it, then thats different and I hadnt implied them as being 'posers' (lolol) in my previous post. (Though on a personal level I dont see the point of paying to download stuff when you can get the CD - you may as well buy the Cd and get the artwork and the whole package).

For the stuff that is only available in digital format, then well, I guess you can only download that, plain and simple. But Ill happily bet that the majority of genres/artists that do that are outside of the mainstream and so have 'real' music fans listening to it anyway.

Ive never seen the option in the metal world to download but then also thats not something I would notice cos its not something i care about.

I swear I cant be all that intelligent to do this but I dont tend to buy albums for more than £8-9 max. eBay, of course dependent on whats currently stocked, is great for a bargain but for more reliable stock Amazon marketplace is the best place. Can get stuff for usually around £5-8 there, cheaper and better I'd say than iTunes store.

You mention people cutting back Trout - since Wacken (my years are usually defined as pre-Wacken and post-Wacken, at least when discussing metal ) Ive hardly bought anything. Still though, when the time does come to buy something I can guarantee you itll be a physical purchase rather than a legal download. In some ways I think I am very old-fashioned with my passions and relationship to music but I think a lot of that is borne through being an underground music fan as mainstream fans don't know what being a music fan is all about.

I have around 425-475 good CDs (bear in the mind I've only just turned 17, and don't have a job, so my collection is bound to be smaller than most of yours); by good CDs, i mean ones that I've bought since my taste in music became decent, I probably have around 50 old CDs of crap... i don't count those.

My collection is completely shelved (I'll move anything but a book just to make space for a cd), and is categorised into genre, within genres it is alphabetised, within bands it is sorted in chronological order (original release dates).

Genres I use are:

Metal (around 150)
Blues (around 120)
Rock (around 90)
Jazz (around 40)
Classical (around 40)
Electronic (around 20)
Rap (around 15 or 20)

The numbers used there are from the last count I did, they may be slightly higher now.

While downloads don't count (even legal ones, unless they are only available digitally), I do have a substantial amount of downloads (around 300GB, mostly FLAC). I've never downloaded legally simply because if I'm going to pay for music, I want a hard copy of it. Yes, non-legal downloading is somewhat frowned upon by audiophiles, but I can truthfully say that I always endeavour to buy albums that I've downloaded. I have hard copies of almost all the downloads on my HDD, the few that I don't, I have been unable to find or I am planning to buy in future. I delete anything that I'm never going to buy, and I don't call myself a fan based on a download (even if it is legal).

I have just over 1000 CD's shelved alphabetiacally withindividual bands in chronological order of original release dates. My split CD"s and compilations are in a seperate unit. I have about 50 7" and 40 or so LP's. Plus I have about 30 or so cassettes. I'm after a cassette player for christmas to save me traipsing downstairs whenever I want to listen to one. I'm the only person in the house who likes Noise/BM as well, so that makes it even more annoying. The cCassette's and Vinyl are poorly organised but out of harm's way.

I genuinely have no idea how many cds I have but wouldnt be more than 1000 excluding free cds and limited editions, which all have their own place. And an incredibly good effort at 6 vinyl, but no vinyl player yet and am saving my modest earnings atm for one.

I have all albums alphabetisized with same artist cds sub-alphabetisized on book shelves. I have a seperate space for free cds and a completely seperate rack for compilations as do i for best ofs. Also digi books have their own chest of drawers and are all alphabetisized. Then I have a seperate bookshelf for all my albums that I have copied and therefor never listen to the original cd and indoingso save the images on the discs from getting scratched, and am currantly trying to get all my albums to this state. When i buy cds i try to get the albums straight from a label/distro, pulverised are really good for cds.

What i have done for all the free cds, which my better half thinks is seriously ocd, is make a spread sheet in excel with band name on the right and then a list of all the cds that they appear on and then if someone suggests a band i may like then i can go and see if i have anything by them!

I have no downloads now but what i did do when younger was download free, i needless say illegally, and then listen to them all and if i liked them i would go and buy an album and if not then delete them.

Fuck me thats an essay!