By the numbers: 2020

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: Gary Numan, The Pleasure Principle on vinyl.
First purchase of a 2020 release: … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories on CD.
Last purchase of a 2020 release: Bruce Springsteen, Letter to You on CD
Last purchase: XTC, Go 2 on CD.

Purchases by format

Format	New release	Reissue	Catalog	Total
7-inch	0	0	0	0
10-inch	0	1	0	1
12-inch	1	1	0	2
CD Single	0	0	0	0
CD	35	5	245	285
CD-R	1	0	0	1
Downloads	13	0	5	18
Vinyl	13	31	56	100
Total items bought	62	38	304	407

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
1999	16	New!
2003	15	New!
2002	14	+9
1998	13	New!
1985	13	New!
2008	12	New!
1983	12	New!
2001	11	New!
2000	11	New!
1995	11	+1
1989	11	-6
1984	11	New!

Top artists

Single titles purchased in multiple formats are counted individually.

Artist	Number of items purchased
Soundtracks	17
Jason Isbell	6
Various Artists	6
Robyn	5
downy	5
PJ Harvey	5
Philip Glass	4
envy	4
… And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead	4
Guided By Voices	4
U2	4

Notes

For the second year in a row, soundtracks make up a lot of my purchases from the past year, and like last year, they’re less about the score and more about the show.
Jason Isbell owns his own record label, so when SARS-CoV2 hit, he pivoted from live performance to releasing live recordings on Bandcamp.
The PJ Harvey vinyl reissue campaign has also drawn my attention to her works.
It looks like I’ve expanded beyond the late ’80s in my catalog purchases. It could also just be a symptom of limited purchasing opportunities due to SARS-CoV2.
Collectorz Music, the software I use to track my collection, added a count column to its interface, which has made compiling this entry so much faster.

Tags: cd collecting, vinyl collecting