For years, I just had all my MP3s in 1 folder. When that started getting out of hand, I added a second, but that still leaves me with a folder with about 5000 songs and another with over 2000 - not the prettiest. I've been playing with the idea of reorganizing, but I'm not sure how. I know there are plenty of programs that will do it for me, but I don't know what I want. I'm curious how other people organize their music: Separate folders for every artist and album? That'd be great for artists that I listen to a lot, but there are also plenty where I just have a couple or even just one song. I had the idea of maybe making 27 folders (one for each letter and one for numbers) and just sorting them alphabetically that way. I'll probably do that. I just wanted to get other ideas before I go through with it. Thanks!

Here's how I do it with approx. 700 albums.

First of all, I use J River Media Center for ripping, encoding, organizing and playback. This means that my main program provides multiple views into the mp3 (and other) files that I have, so I don't have to rely on the structure of the filesystem to find my stuff.

All the files for a single album are in the same folder, that folder is named after the artist and album name, e.g "Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here", with the album cover stored as folder.jpg.

A number of these album folders are stored in a folder "JukeboxXX" (XX=01...) with a size that fits on a single DVD±R. This makes backing up easy, because I'm not limited to using a specific backup program.

Not all files fit in this "Artist - Album" structure, so all the single tracks are in another structure where all the single tracks for a single artist is in a folder named after that artist. These artist folders are stored in my Jukebox00 folder which also fits on a single DVD±R.

All the JukeboxXX (XX=00...) folders are stored in a top-level folder on one of my harddrives.

Using the MP3 tags intelligently, and using the dynamic playlists (based on search criteria) in J River Media Center makes finding stuff very easy for me.

That's for the great idea. A friend of my uses JR River, but he really doesn't use it that productively. He and I both have unorganized mp3 collections, but we'll try your system.

I just rip the CD to MP3 with 'title - artist - album' names (and proper id3 tags) and toss them all in one big (11,000 +) folder. Then I let WinAmp sort it out. That way if I want them sorted by artist, *click* (done)...album *click* (done)...etc. If I want to copy a song or an album or a whole artists catalog, I build a playlist and use 'Playlist Unpacker' to retrieve the songs.

Ooh, interesting. I'll definitely check out J. River, thanks!

MP3 Collector - http://www.collectorz.com/mp3/features.php

Artist name then Song name

#1 Folder A through Z by Artist

Thats pretty much it

A lot of my music is uploaded from vinyl, and has to be named manually - it's mostly wav not MP3.
I use A folder for each artist, and sub folders for each album by an artist.
Then I name each track with Artist_Album Title_Track Name_Track Number.
If they're from vinyl, I put in a number for the side of the record as well.

[Off-topic]
You can save a lot of space by using lossless compression such as e.g. APE (Monkey's Audio) or FLAC instead of uncompresed WAV files. I use APE files which support tagging (unlike WAV) and can be played in e.g. J River Media Center and burned to an Audio CD in JRMC and in EAC. APE files are roughly 55% the size of WAV files (depending on content).

Hi Drage, this is going to sound a bit nerdy... but I actually like to keep the original wave uploaded from vinyl in case I want to go back and change the audio restoration process. Some on the vinyl is really old or damaged and I restore it, then listen a bit, and change my mind about how it should sound best.
I can't quite bear to get rid of the original file.
Apparently I have attachment issues

I do also have them in MP3 for use on my player too, and use a tag system for that.

Hi Prof,

The world today is full of shortcuts. 5 years ago it was all mp3 and now FLAC format.

Here`s the bottom line: Wave is the real deal, mp3, Flac, are temporary formats to suit your current needs.

YOU are not alone

carthoris

I have taken it one step further. I have unopened vinyl albums

Cool, thanks for all the input, guys!

Same here. But my files are generally named thus: Artist - Track Number* - Track name.

*If it's ripped from a CD and not a stray song rip.

I generally use .mp3 on the HDD because that's for general playback use. My archives are a different matter

And yes, they're all tagged correctly, I'm a bit anal about that

I'm not into playing from HDD (although I liked Musepack), vinyl's so much more soothing. It's right here next to me on my L-shaped desk and all I'm buying now really. PC-speakers are a big no-no as well (unless you have some Behringer's maybe).

Me too, very rarely listen to music on the computer unless it's streamed radio feed while I'm working at my desk.
Much prefer vinyl on my deck
Also listen to a lot of CDs in the car driving to work.

Blimey, we're about a mile off topic now

I hear all of these people talking about how great vinyl is... is it really that great or is it just a preference?

[Off-topic]
I experienced the introduction of CD Audio in 1983, having used vinyl records and turntables until then. I couldn't afford a CD player until 1984 so that's when I got my first one. (> $1000 at 1984 prices)

The improvement of CD over vinyl was dramatic in my opinion, and there's no way I'd ever go back. The convenience is also much better.

Everything is dependent on good mastering however, and the loudness wars in recent years have really made audio quality on pop & rock music suffer, because everything is loudness compressed to a reiciculous degree.

Some people prefer the sound of viny over CDs, but I'm definitely not one of them. And I have a high-end Hi-Fi system and care about sound quality in case you're wondering.

[lunging further off topic]

IMO preference for vinyl is just that, a preference. Maybe it's a nostalgia that I interpret as a warmer sound quality.
I prefer convenience and sound quality of CDs generally, but agree with Drage's point on "loudness" which I just find quite irritating to listen to.

Most of my reason for vinyl is that I have a lot of old stuff which isn't easily available on CD, I like buying second hand records, and I detest CDs with DRM

Definitely a preference. Pure technically, rationally, analytically, there's no contest in the figures between ancient and current technology. I'm very happy however that I don't possess those qualities in large doses and I'm not looking for "sound quality" per se either, but rather the sensory, tactile experience of playing and listening to vinyl records as compared to CD's or other forms of digital storage. I find no satisfaction whatsoever in handling CD's and jewel cases as opposed to records and sleeves. Nostalgia, surely, and the comfort of things you've grown up with. So, if that's not the case for you, you're not missing out on something...

Sorry for having taken this thread off-topic. At least it stays on top this way so anyone can still add their views on media libraries.

Apparently my typing is ridiculously bad?

I keep them in a big folder, serperated by artist and album:
Music\Artist\Album\[Track Number] - [Artist Name] - [Track Name].mp3

What system?!

I keep them in a big folder, sorted like this:

Arist\Year - Album\(Year) Album - Track# - Artist - Title.mp3

So for example, Tool’s “Schism” is stored as:
Tool\2001 - Lateralus\(2001) Lateralus - 05 - Tool - Schism.mp3

I have the same problem.
I checked out music collector, which is not exactly what I am looking for.
I am looking for a solution (a program, a mod or a add-on) which scans my computer for music, erases duplicates, adjusts volume, categorizes in genres & quality, adds missing titles and artist names.
Looking forward to your help!

The latest WinAmp does most of what you ask. It won't automatically delete duplicates but does auto tag (Gracenote) and allows you to set gain on MP3 files. It can find 66 items with the string 'foo' in them in less than a second (searching among 11,000 items). Also has great visualizations and hundreds of plug-ins for all kinds of stuff like burning MP3 CDs.