spent the weekend (finally!) organizing my CD collection.

long story short, it got me thinking about how long CDs (and other optical media) will last.

CDs were once touted as being indestructible and lasting for 1000 years.

then i kinda remember this article from 20+ years ago about CDs "rotting": https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwicrvDGrv_qAhWULH0KHS1ADMMQFjAAegQIBBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com%2Fnews%2Fct-xpm-1999-06-07-9906070095-story.html&usg=AOvVaw2PTGBVKKYpoUei94RYQNql

more recently, i saw this on discogs from last year: https://blog.discogs.com/en/say-no-to-disc-rot-how-to-look-after-cds/

the comments in the above article regarding proper handling and storage, and particular plant manufacturing errors (PDO), sounded sensible to me. this issue seems to keep coming up every 5 or so years, and each article sounds like they've discovered something brand new. idk idk idk...

questions to y'all:

have any of you had CDs actually deteriorate or "rot" on you?

how do you store your CDs/DVDs/etc?

do you regularly rip and archive your CDs?

anything else to add would be great...

Happy 50th D’Angelo: https://chrisp.bandcamp.com/track/d-50

and I can't do shit about it since all of it is in storage across the country.

I have 3, maybe 5 songs up in places from 15 years ago and thats it.

I do have two old harddrives I could resurrect if it came down to it, but yanno...let the past be the past.

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https://soundcloud.com/swageyph/yph-die-with-me

...not CDs, but i recently found a box of old stuff which included cassette of old demos, beats and sessions from the early 90s ..i tried to play them and they basically disintegrated in the tape deck ..i guess they were meant to be forgotten smh

< Live Mixshow - Thurs 11PM/EST >
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----Mixtape Archives-----
https://soundcloud.com/djchiefone

People have lists: https://www.discogs.com/forum/thread/723943

I keep my CDs in the closet in a covered box.

I've ripped them all and uploaded to Google Music and I have 2 copies on two hard drives - each in a different room.

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Gone: My Discogs collection for The Roots:
http://www.discogs.com/user/tomhayes-roots/collection

at this point, they were no longer needed. i tried to reach out and get someone to take them off my hands before i got rid of them but couldn't find any interested parties and i had some FIRE rap and r&b albums point being unless you just value having some sort of physical copy, or unless something is super rare or so independent you can't find it anywhere, there's not a lot of reason in 2020 to have physical copies.

i still have heavy vinyl crates though. those i'll never ditch.

Got 60+ year-old records that still sound great (gotta embrace the slight snap/crackle/pop tho).

Real pressed CDs seem like they last a while, about a few decades for me. CD-Rs start falling apart after 5 years or so. Vinyl (if you take care of them) lasts until you wear the record out from playing it XYZ number of times over the years. Have not worn a record out yet.