You Are More Than Your CD Collection
You are more than your CD collection. There, I said it. I’ve officially pissed off every High Fidelity-loving, rare B-side collecting, “I loved them before they sold out” music junkie. It had to be said. I’ll say it one more time for the cheap seats: you are more than your CD collection.
Collecting can be a beautiful thing when it’s done with passion and deliberateness. And what could be better than surrounding yourself with music? It’s easily the most collectible form of art, it’s a known mood enhancer, and it’s fun to boot. So what’s the problem?
You’re Cooler Than the Latest Undiscovered Act
An impressive stack of discs in a posh bookcase is a poor stand-in for personality. That’s the problem. When we rely on our musical tastes to inform our friends and acquaintances about ourselves and our values, we do our personalities an extreme disservice. No matter how hip your tastes are or how authentic your collection is, you are far more interesting than a bootleg cut.
Displaying a CD collection for the sole purpose of having other people see it is a cop-out. It’s the equivalent of fishing for compliments with a flashing neon lure. The worst part is that it rarely works. People who aren’t passionate about music aren’t impressed and might even be intimidated. People who are music junkies will be intrigued, but probably feel the need to one-up you. By equating your personality to pop culture, you’ve either alienated people or made no impression whatsoever. In the end, the statement you’re making with a for-show collection is, “I’m really not that interesting, so I enjoy letting inanimate objects do the talking for me.”
True Confessions of a Music Junkie
From the true confessions file, I’m saying all of this from experience. Back in college, I lived with a roommate who loved to display her “stuff” as a way of showing off her personality. It probably wouldn’t have been an issue if a good 90 percent of the three-person townhouse hadn’t been plastered with her things. What was my method of fighting back? I bought a bookcase to show off my music collection.
Did it change my living situation at all? Nope. Did people like me any more than before? Nope. Were people instantly impressed? Not in the slightest. Because we’re all more than our music collections. You are your actions, your passions, your opinions, your relationships, and your insights.
If your music collection is out in plain sight purely for the benefit of others, consider putting it away, or at least somewhere more private. I can almost guarantee you that nothing in your life will change. People will still want to get to know you, you’ll still have awesome conversations about music, and if you’re truly a cool, interesting person, people will know it without the visual proof. Put away the stuff, and let the real you do the talking.
This post has 12 comments
June 26th, 2008
I loved this point you make:
“In the end, the statement you’re making with a for-show collection is, ‘I’m really not that interesting, so I enjoy letting inanimate objects do the talking for me.’”
Excellent point. I’ve thought about this before regarding my magazine subscriptions, and to a lesser extent, my books.
I’ve actually thought about what magazines I’d like to have lying out on my coffee table for new visitors who come by to see–and the message those particular mags would convey about me.
As you allude to, it’s kind of vain and vacuous. We ourselves should be more interesting than the objects we purchase and our own personalities should demonstrate that interestingness more than anything we’ve spent money on.
June 26th, 2008
This was an interesting read, something I never really thought about. I don’t see too many collections displayed anymore, probably because everything is on someone’s Ipod or MP3 Player. Mine is out, but no one pays attention to it, even me. I need to reorganize it. I guess with anything in life, anytime you display something for the benefit of “others” or maintain a showy display of life – it’s possible you’re trying to fill some void in your life and need the “look at me” factor. Sometimes.
June 26th, 2008
And you’re right, Natural. It’s only “sometimes.” If a collection is there because it makes your heart sing or for your convenience, then it’s escaped my wrath. But I have known a few people who collect things, including music, specifically to impress other people, and that’s what kills me. You’ve got to do stuff for you, not strangers.
June 26th, 2008
You know Sara, someone in the comments already mentioned books, but I have about 2,000 books in my apartment–in plain sight–and although I honestly love reading and have read every single one of them, I probably also use them to make sure that anyone who walks into my apartment knows how smart I am. “I’m brilliant, don’t believe me, look at all these books”. This article was fun to read!
June 26th, 2008
This was so me! I bought every obscure b-side and indie CD I could (I liked them of course, I didn’t just buy them to display them). I love my collection now but it’s something more these days - clutter! Now my CD’s take up lots of space and honestly most people don’t care anymore what I have. Did it possibly impress a few friends or girlfriends back in the day, briefly. Now I buy much fewer CD’s and only those that I truly want to listen to. Ahh…if only I could put my Frank Zappa cd’s on a job resume…can’t you tell I’m cultured and open-minded?
June 26th, 2008
Very funny post! I have the opposite problem. I hide my interests in books, movies, and music from plain view because I’m pretty sure that most people would be shocked to see them. They’re definitely not mainstream. At the risk of raising a few eyebrows, I’ll go ahead and list a few of my favorites since I don’t want to leave anyone guessing: Chuck Palahniuk books; Quentin Tarantino films; and 70s and 80s pop music CDs.
June 26th, 2008
Funny.
I never did that… I enjoy music but never saw it as an extension of my personality. I am much more into WORDS than I am into sounds.
June 26th, 2008
This was a great post. (as usual) This actually reminds me of another posting on Brazencareerist that mentioned how the cell phone you buy shows status. It is interesting how people will go into debt just to show off. Sad but interesting for a good blog.
June 27th, 2008
If its there only for show then I agree, but music and books are interesting, thought provoking things to have lying around.
June 27th, 2008
Hi Sara,
I learned long ago, I want friends who come and visit my home to see me, and not my “stuff”. Most people aren’t impressed anyway, so it makes no sense to waste time or money on displaying “stuff” in hopes of leaving an impression.
Now when friends come over, I usually say, “excuse the dust”.
June 27th, 2008
I would suppose this would apply to most any “collection” we are want to display, cookie jars, books, and photos. You are so right, our disply does not make one any differentce - I enjoyed reading your blog.
Judy
July 2nd, 2008
You know what? I am proud of my collection. I own over 800 CDs. I don’t really know anyone that has such an extensive collection.
I don’t have the room to display all of them either. So I put them into DJ crates. It’s a perfect solution. The CDs are accessible and portable. I don’t think displaying them is important.
But every time I mention that I love Buffalo Tom, I am met with blank stares. So what if you never heard of them, I love them.
I find it is getting harder to connect with people through music though. More and more, I find that people have diverse tastes and that pop music is falling by the wayside of what people really listen to.
At least that is levelling the playing field, so to speak.
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