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Original poster

What have you done with your old CD collection? want to ditch but can't bear it!!

67 replies

mustbebetter · 07/02/2021 17:44

Ok, I am a music lover, i have a significant CD collection amassed over my youth (probably 200+) and a part of me cannot bear to get rid of it! \

But I cannot afford to go onto spotify, neither can I be bothered to spend the tens of hours it would take me to burn it onto a hard drive. bear in mind some are also scratched and when I have tried to copy them they fail and the whole process is really frustrating.

I no longer have the cases. Just the discs. part of me wants to be gone from them but I can't bear to do it! but they are one of the piles of junk messing up my house. I still love music but listen a lot less than I used to, just on youtube these days. There's no guarantee youtube will stay around forever and give free music forever and it has annoying ads.

Suggestions welcome please.... :) thank you!!

OP posts:

LunaHeather · 07/02/2021 17:48

I have been through this dilemma due to very limited space

I would say keep them. You never know when internet will be down, you don't know if things will be withdrawn, and I don't want my listening habits logged all the time.

If you put them in CD envelopes, how much space do they take up? For me it's just a narrow shelf thing.

LunaHeather · 07/02/2021 17:49

I'm having the same issue with books but ditching anything that I won't read again. Not easy, I know.

dudsville · 07/02/2021 17:52

I have to say I got rid of mine. I love spotify because it allows me to broaden my interests.

Twospaniels · 07/02/2021 17:54

I saw an ad for Musicmagpie the other day. They buy old phones etc, as well as CDs and DVDs.
Never used it myself so I don’t know how much you would get.

lljkk · 07/02/2021 17:54

Freecycle? If you aren't going to listen them you aren't going to listen to them.
The only reason to keep them is to use them.

I still listen to CDs in the car (when we are allowed to travel!)
I would try a free bundle of CDs if advertised locally.

user85963842 · 07/02/2021 17:54

Music magpie, few years ago mind, didn't make much but better than throwing away. They didn't really hold sentimental value for me though, much prefer the convenience of streaming and less stuff.

inmylifeIlovedthemall · 07/02/2021 17:55

Same issue here. They are taking up so much room but are like a comfort blanket because I usually use the Spotify free service.

Every time I get them out to dispose of them I get all sentimental and put them away again

KihoBebiluPute · 07/02/2021 17:55

Keep them. You don't want to tie yourself in to subscription services. Rip to drive one CD each weekend to rediscover why you love each one?

BarryTheKestrel · 07/02/2021 17:55

I have Spotify and no CD player, yet I still have at least 150 cds on a shelf in our living room, i will not part with them. All mine have cases but if i didnt have the cases I'd buy one of the A4 folder sized cd wallets and pop them all in there, easy to store and takes up less space than random piles of them.

BillMasheen · 07/02/2021 17:56

Mine are all saved on a Computer (and backed up).

But is still,have the cds in the loft. I have used music magpie for some but can’t quite bear to part with the rest.

Cocolapew · 07/02/2021 17:57

I put them in boxes and stuck them on top of the wardrobe, no idea why because I have Spotify and will never listen to them again.
I still have my vinyl out though.

Katie1784 · 07/02/2021 18:01

I got rid of most of mine at Music Magpie and made around £100 but I don't imagine they'll be interested in ones with no cases.
Kept maybe a quarter of them; the most sentimental ones or ones which I couldn't replace - plus those which I'm most likely to listen to in my old car (CD player but no MP3 connection).

Gubanc · 07/02/2021 18:02

I backed them up onto my pc and all went to charity shops.

Katie1784 · 07/02/2021 18:02

@Katie1784

I got rid of most of mine at Music Magpie and made around £100 but I don't imagine they'll be interested in ones with no cases. Kept maybe a quarter of them; the most sentimental ones or ones which I couldn't replace - plus those which I'm most likely to listen to in my old car (CD player but no MP3 connection).

Forgot to add I have Spotify now. It's not cheap but no more expensive than adding a new CD to my collection once a month.

DinosaurDiana · 07/02/2021 18:03

If you’ve got any 80’s rock send it to me 🤣🤣🤣

DinosaurDiana · 07/02/2021 18:04

I chucked my tapes out years ago because of CD’s. I bitterly regret it now.

Ultimateblends · 07/02/2021 18:04

I music magpie'd all mine years ago... in stages, over time. Finally let go of the final ones around a year ago.

If you can't part with them, keep them, guilt free. I have a strong suspicion they'll come back into "fashion" again, with the future generations.. not many of us will have a CD collection anymore!
Ditto how vinyl has become fashionable again.

occa · 07/02/2021 18:05

I burned them to my iTunes back when computers had CD players and threw them all out. Although now I wish I'd kept some of the more beautiful and interesting ones to mount on a black background in a frame and hang on the wall.

minniemoll · 07/02/2021 18:11

You won't be able to use Music Magpie or similar without the cases - you need to scan the barcode, and that's on the case insert.

I'd rip them - it really doesn't take long - and then maybe stick them on eBay as a job lot, or possibly several of the genres are wildly different. You're unlikely to get much for them though - I just sold a box of well over 100 CDs with cases for about £30 :(

user85963842 · 07/02/2021 18:13

@Ultimateblends no doubt, but unfortunately CD is a much more unstable format, the life of a CD is only about 20 years (though of course many will surpass that) but they degrade over time. The crackle of vinyl is a nostalgic sound, I'm not sure anyone wants to remember the irritation of a CD jumping

shouldreallynamechangemore · 07/02/2021 18:17

I got rid of mine and regretted it recently as I try to go more offline and use my Ipod classic so have gone round buying them all back from charity shops and uploading the MP3s to my computer. I have stored the CDs in my loft. I think if nothing else they are a lovely piece of cultural history. I wouldn't get rid. I have also rediscovered the joy of listening to albums and it is great to listen to music without the distraction of my phone.

Andylion · 07/02/2021 18:17

Do you have any rare titles, anything that might be difficult to find if you feel like listening to it 20 years from now? If so, I would at least burn them.

LangClegsInSpace · 07/02/2021 18:24

@KihoBebiluPute

Keep them. You don't want to tie yourself in to subscription services. Rip to drive one CD each weekend to rediscover why you love each one?

I second this. I ripped all mine over the space of about 18 months and it was lovely rediscovering old friends. I then took almost all of them to the charity shop.

IWentAwayIStayedAway · 07/02/2021 18:29

How do you copy a music cd?? I have the same issue

LangClegsInSpace · 07/02/2021 18:33

[quote user85963842]@Ultimateblends no doubt, but unfortunately CD is a much more unstable format, the life of a CD is only about 20 years (though of course many will surpass that) but they degrade over time. The crackle of vinyl is a nostalgic sound, I'm not sure anyone wants to remember the irritation of a CD jumping [/quote]
Yes to this. Also a CD is just a compilation of audio files - it's already digital so there's nothing to be gained from listening to the original CD over listening to the same files played from a drive.

When CDs first came out we were told they were practically indestructible

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