How do you organize your online finds?

#1

This is a recurring topic amongst my friends. I’m curious to see if it’s an issue other people face and, if so, how they deal.

It’s hard for me to remember music that I come across online and listen to it later. I work in the day and between chat apps, twitter, youtube, soundcloud, discogs, etc., its tough to keep up on all of it.

How do you organize your music finds? I try to save them in playlists (e.g. youtube playlist, sc playlist)… but sometimes forget what site I saved something in lol. Does this happen to you?

:v:t3:

#2

Youtube you’ve got to use playlists imo. Admittedly, I don’t really have the best system for it and it is a total mess (I’ve got over 60 playlists on it), but I try and sort things roughly by subgenres/styles. It is very crude though because I kind of make these up as I go along if there is a tune that doesn’t quite fit. Which means that some playlists are far too big to be manageable and others end up being quite redundant.

#3

I have a similar system. I do have catch all playlist dubbed “discovery” where I toss in random tracks when in a hurry.

How do you manage music across platforms? for example you find something on soundcloud or bandcamp link and wanna get back to it later.

#4

i noticed a similar issue with my self and try to make it a point now to commit artist+song info (for the exceptional tracks) to memory - I use soundcloud and bandcamp for electronic music discovery and neither of them have really remarkable organizational features so im -trying- to rely on the knoggin lol

#5

well i consolidate everything in apple music/itunes as i’m in the apple ecosystem. i realise not everyone has that luxury or wants it - yet i find it the best option out there. spotify won’t let this but within itunes you can upload anything to coincide with the subscription offerings. it leads to having everything you ever find in the one place, which may be what you’re looking for. i won’t tell you how to get vinyl only/soundcloud music in there but it is possible. i can’t imagine organising my music in any other manner tbh

#6

Finds I save either in a catch-all YouTube playlist, or if in an article or discogs I save it to Pocket (app). I use Tidal for everything I can find there and synch it to my local files in Roon (music player) so I have everything in one place. I’m struggling with singel songs as I feel they clutter up my library, so I have them in a few different folders that I use for dj’ing and shuffle play when at home.

#7

I’ve been slacking on itunes for so long now. A buddy of mine organizes all his finds into playlists. He basically downloads his finds from wherever then uploads them into it into itunes.

sounds like you may be doing the same for tracks you find online?

#8

Interesting! I use Instapaper, which is basically Pocket, so guess I could save articles in there… .but will peep Pocket. Does Pocket have a media player for articles with music? I guess you can revisit the article at a later session to find/listen to the tracks

#9

I used Instapaper earlier, but switched to Pocket a few years ago. Can’t remember why, but had a good reason I believe. :slight_smile: No media player in Pocket but yes, I go back and find the tracks mentioned whenever I have time.

#10

Thanks for chiming in, all. I’m looking into making a little tool that could help with online digging. Would love to share it with you all when there’s something worth showing :innocent:

#11

Yes please, sounds interesting!

#12

I literally screenshot anything and then go back and organise at the jend of the day/week. Means I don’t have to capture it in the moment and i don’t have to remember anything

#13

Nice. I have a buddy who takes notes and checks them later… not the same thing but kind of similar. Do you just take screenshots on mobile or also on web?

#14

If it’s on web i use the service its on: On YT I have a ‘new’ folder that I periodically go through, on bandcamp i’ll usually either just buy it or add it to my wishlist, and on soundcloud i’ll just like it. If it’s something i want to download instantly i just will, otherwise i go through my various playlists like once a week as it gives a bit of breathing room: I re-listen and then download if I really want the tune. Screenshots is just an easy mobile way of not forgetting stuff!

#15

I wouldn’t do this myself personally but this sounds like the kind of business you might want to get a pen and a notepad out for - and keep it in your satchel when u need it

#16

im in dire need of a satchel

#17

put whatever find in a spotify playlist called “ivy’s dl list” so i can check it out later on my places of getting music downloaded :smirk:

the bandcamp wishlists are good too

#18

i save to various places: Bandcamp, Boomkat, and Bleep wishlists, and Spotify album save. this generally covers everything i come across, but i do have a OneNote page saved with a few miscellaneous things. also a couple of random things saved in a YouTube playlist but not many.

#19

if the mind don’t remeber it, don’t organize it

#20

All, thanks for your replies. Seems like saving on platform (bandcamp, spotify, etc) and listening later is the made mode of organization, with the exception of note taking.

I finally have some freetime this weekend to flesh out some ideas around this… will share when ready :slight_smile:

:peace_symbol: