Sort a vinyl collection by genre and decade

A shelf can feel like a bit of everything until you count it. Decades and genres show the eras you actually bought, which is often narrower than the eras you think you collect.

Sorting the physical records is optional. The counts work even if the spines stay alphabetical. The catalogue is the index. The shelf can stay as you like it.

The counts are only as complete as the records you have added. A half-catalogued room describes the half you typed in. That is still useful, as long as you read it that way.

A decade with almost nothing, or a genre you thought was a large part of the shelf, is a fact you can use. It might explain the wants. It might show that the wants are wishes rather than a plan.

You do not build a tag system before the counts appear. Genres come from the records you added. A record you typed in by hand may not have a genre until you note one, and that is fine.

Add the records first. Statistics shows genres, decades, and the rest of the shelf's shape, alongside collection value and Still hunting. The wishlist is where you keep the gaps you still want to fill.

Still hunting counts the wishlist. The genre and decade totals are the records you own. Wants do not inflate the picture of the shelf.