By the numbers: 2019

In the past, I would try to write about every album I encountered. These days, I listen to a lot of stuff, but I’ll only post an entry if something sparks a memory.

As these statistics demonstrate, I’m leaving a lot out of this blog.

First and last purchases of the year

The first and last purchases of the year are determined by the date of order. Pre-ordered items not yet shipped have already been taken into account.

First purchase: Nakamori Akina, NEW AKINA Etranger on CD.
First purchase of a 2019 release: Soundtrack, The West Wing on CD.
Last purchase of a 2019 release: Kim Gordon, No Home Record on vinyl.
Last purchase: J. Cole, Born Sinner on CD.

Purchases by format

Format	New release	Reissue	Catalog	Total
7-inch	2	0	0	2
12-inch	2	2	2	6
CD Single	1	0	2	3
CD	38	10	599	647
CD-R	1	2	0	3
Downloads	0	0	0	0
Vinyl	19	32	192	243
Total items bought	64	46	795	905

Definitions

New release: Initial release within the calendar year.
Reissue: Originally released prior to the calendar year but reissued within the calendar year.
Catalog: Initial release prior to the calendar year.

Top catalog release years

Year	Number of items purchased	Year-over-year change
1986	32	+6
1993	31	-1
1990	30	+6
1987	29	+4
1989	28	-4
1988	25	-3
1997	25	New!
1983	24	New!
2009	22	New!
1991	21	+7
1995	21	New!
2002	21	-8
1994	20	+4

Top artists

Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.

Artist	Number of items purchased
Soundtracks	36
Robert Palmer	14
Olivier Messiaen	11
Everything But the Girl	8
Various Artists	8
Beck	6
Fleetwood Mac	6
Janet Jackson	6
John Coltrane	6
Johnny Cash	6
NUMBER GIRL	6
Ornette Coleman	6
Sly and the Family Stone	6
The Beatles	6

Notes

I’m surprised by the number of soundtracks I picked up this year, and I’ll admit many of those purchases were spurred by admiration for the film and not on the merits of the film score.
Robert Palmer is a seriously underrated singer. The market price for his albums puts him in the bargain bin, which allowed me to grab them without burning a hole in my pocket. He should be commanding more than he does.
Raiding the thrift shops these past three years has greatly expanded my collection, but now my listening is a lot shallower. If I play an album more than once, I like it a lot, or I can’t figure out if I ought to hate it.

Tags: cd collecting, statistics, vinyl collecting