The Tyranny of Being Stuck in a Pigeonhole

[c9]

No, this isn't a post about being stuck in a job I don't like or anything.

And no, this isn't a sex post. Ew!

Actually I'm finally ripping all my CDs into iTunes. Wooo! And they're being automatically labelled and classified by whatever wonderful Internet database it is that Apple uses. But it's a bit odd sometimes. Genres are assigned by album it seems, rather than by song. So while "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette qualifies as Rock on the original album, it's Pop when it's included on "Oh What A Feeling!" (a four-disc 'isn't Canadian music awesome' compilation that we all mock but we all secretly love too even if it does include "Tears Are Not Enough"). I thought this was a blip, but Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns" has the same problem. The Alanis track is actually bleeped on the compilation, but "Patio Lanterns" is the original. Hmmm. Oh, and Rush too.

Other oddities:

• Ashley MacIsaac, who lives in the same building as some friends of ours, is classified as "World". Maybe that's true when you're somewhere else in the world, but not from where I'm sitting. (The dining room.)
• There's a genre called "Alternative & Punk" which includes both Pansy Division and one Sarah McLachlan album. !!!
• Moxy Fruvous has six albums in my collection. Each album is assigned a different genre. Says my helpful husband: "I would say it's time for a LiveJournal poll, but probably nobody else knows what the hell Moxy Fruvous is." I suspect about 30% of you do. I went with Folk, which is wrong but at least now it's consistent.
  
• Sarah McLachlan actually ranges from Rock to Pop to Alternative. Hardly.
• Sting singing "It's Probably Me" with Pavarotti suddenly becomes "Classical".

I'm approaching half way and I have 14 genres, 154 albums, and 323 artists. Damn compilations ruining the curve.

How do you organize your music?

Comments

[quingawaga.livejournal.com]

I just don't assign genres to anything. It's too ridiculous and subjective.

[zanate.livejournal.com]

I only own 2 moxy fruvous albums, but King of Spain is part of every Ontarian's psyche, even if they don't realize it.

Well, every Ontarian older than... 25 or so.

[sarah-sosiak.livejournal.com]

I remove genre altogether and use tags instead.

Also: I would classify Moxy Fruvous as "Canadian".

[c9.livejournal.com]

How does one "use tags" in iTunes? Or must I use another tool?

[c9.livejournal.com]

Doh! Found it. Nifty!

http://lifehacker.com/software/itunes/tag-your-songs-in-itunes-153970.php

[nihilicious.livejournal.com]

put me in the knows moxy fruvous camp


pls

[iambic-cub.livejournal.com]

I remember Moxy Fruvous, though that knowledge does me no good at all, especially since I cannot recall a single one of their songs. (Meanwhile, the Shuffle Demons's "Spadina Bus" has been incessantly bouncing around in my head for years. I want it out, but it won't leave. I'd pay good money for an earworm exorcist.)

[(Anonymous)]

I used to worry about Genre, but then I realized that -- apart from the desire to correct things that are patently wrong -- I don't really use it except in certain situations. E.g., if I want to listen to jazz, it's important to have my jazz correctly genred, but I rarely want to listen to "Alternative Rock" separately from "Rock" separately from "Alternative"... so I don't care about those.

I'm a lot more likely to throw together a smart playlist and group a bunch of bands and/or albums together in that that support a certain theme/activity/mood, then copy it to a static playlist and label it ("Happy", "Cleaning", "Party", etc).

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

That was me. Gah.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Hint from Heloise: just hit BACK and enter your credentials and post the comment again. I'll delete the dupe if/when I notice it.

Once I was the king of Spain...

[whobunkyboo.livejournal.com]

Now I am Jihan Ghomeshi
The CBC cancels my series
So I make another one.

I know Moxy Fruvous too.