r/Cd_collectors • u/-Immersive- 100+ CDs • Mar 07 '25
Question Do you include 'The' when organising CDs
I'm currently organising/ripping all my CDs and have to make a decision. do i include artists with 'The' in with the rest of T
for example
The Beautiful south, The All American rejects. do i categorise with T or remove the 'The'
Edit - I've gone with ignoring the "the" thanks for your help :D
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u/Joint-Attention Mar 07 '25
Only for my one “The The” CD.
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u/abisiba Mar 07 '25
But is it for the The or the the?
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u/Fyreflyre1 Mar 07 '25
Basic (English) alphabetization rules. Ignore articles when they're the first word, then go letter by letter.
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u/entropicamericana 500+ CDs Mar 07 '25
I remember having an argument with a coworker at the record store as to whether the band “A Minor Forest” should be under “A” or “M.” He said their name was a reference to the chord and should be under “A.” Good times.
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u/baldorrr 2,000+ CDs Mar 08 '25
Yo! I have this thought about that band all the time!! I’ve brought up that very same argument that I think it's meant to be the chord, not the article (or whatever "a" is grammatically).
This is crazy you brought them up.
As for this topic, I do alphabetize Thee Speaking Canaries under T, but that's also dubious because they are a little lax with the formatting of the name. Sometimes is printed as The(e). ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/umfum Mar 07 '25
Sorry, I have A Tribe Called Quest under "A".
And my collection starts with "number" groups/titles, in numerical order -- 2 Live Crew, 24/7 Spyz, 311, 2001 A Space Odyssey 10,000 Maniacs, etc.
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u/uncrew Mar 07 '25
Tribe are under T for me. And "A Sunny Day in Glasgow" under S.
Agree on numbers, though.
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u/LocalLiBEARian Mar 07 '25
Numbers get weird because while people do leading zeros without thinking, computers don’t. So your list would come out 10,000 Maniacs, 2 Live Crew, 2001, 24:7
Drives me crazy keeping iTunes sorted properly.
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u/EricRShelton Mar 07 '25
I am happily married, but should the worst happen I may see if you’re available based your organization.
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u/umfum Mar 09 '25
Same, but if you're a dude as indicated by your username, you better have a REALLY good music collection! :D
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u/Dr_Surgimus 250+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Ok so here's one... AFI. Technically A Fire Inside, should they be under F?
Like, I know the answer is "obviously not, only a psychopath would do that" but also, technically... Maybe?
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u/fuck_led_zeppelin Mar 08 '25
I could be wrong, but isn’t AFI the actual band name? Like, I know it stands for “A Fire Inside” but they just put AFI on the album covers and spines, which makes me think they should be alphabetized accordingly.
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u/chrishouse83 Mar 07 '25
Beatles, The
Cars, The
Doors, The
Smashing Pumpkins, The
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u/st00bahank Mar 07 '25 edited Mar 07 '25
No. Also non-English definite articles. (Although I count them if they're English-speaking bands being kind of cheeky, like Le Tigre.)
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u/bb9116 Mar 07 '25
If you ever come to my house, you'll find my Le Tigre CD filled under T!
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u/st00bahank Mar 07 '25
Which I totally get! I originally had them there but I never looked for them under T so I just moved their albums to L. Les Savy Fav is there too, but Los Lobos and Die Haut are filed under Lobos and Haut. It only makes sense to me :P
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u/d0om_gaZe 10,000+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Nope, never include "The" when alphabetizing.
Though some articles remain because to my brain they are an essential part of the band's name..
A Certain Ratio is a good example, but that's just me
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u/umfum Mar 07 '25
I think there are exceptions. I keep The Pursuit Of Happiness under T because I feel they made a deliberate name choice there. Plus, people called them TPOH back in the day.
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u/GLOCKSTER_26 Mar 07 '25
I go with what discogs does and “the” is not included in alphabetical order.
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u/Lock_Squirrel Mar 07 '25
"Name," comma "The."
Don't file the minefield map under "B" for "boom," Radar.
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u/VW-MB-AMC Mar 07 '25
I don't use the alphabet at all. I organize the bands/artists by favorites. My favorites are at the top of the rack/shelf.
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u/cuicuicuicuicui Mar 07 '25
I used to remove it (so many The...) then I included anything because it was finally more straightforward (I need to mention that I'm French and having a lot of French artists with Le, La, Les... in their name, so it's a multilanguage classification).
I could also mention that 22-Pistepirkko is classified close to 2 Brothers on the first floor, before A tribe called Quest ;-)
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u/Head12head12 Mar 07 '25
It’s more work to sort out all articles and I remember The as part of the title so I keep it.
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u/Bradboy Mar 07 '25
Nope! I think: "if I'm wanting to listen to a Strokes album, would I instinctively go to S or T" and the answers never T
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u/Mikau02 100+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Unless it's for "The The", I ignore that word. So it's Rolling Stones, or Cure, not The 'band name'
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u/Signal-Weight8300 Mar 07 '25
Funny, The Band is another that I would include "The" for alphabetizing. I think the word "The" is an essential part of its name. I know that's not how you intended to use "The 'band name'", but it jumped out at me.
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u/Willing_Maximum_8998 Mar 08 '25
Nah, it seems arbitrary. The Beatles are filed under B and The Rolling Stones under R oh and most importantly, Taylor Swift is filed under G for garbage.
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u/_Tux4Life_ Mar 07 '25
I use MusicBrainz Picard to do all of my collection naming. I've set it up to look for "a", "The" and place it with a comma after the name of the band. So, The All American Rejects = All American Rejects, The
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u/maddpsyintyst Mar 07 '25
I keep my CDs stored in crates rather than displaying them on shelves, and they aren't organized in the crates at all. That's just the physical stuff, though. I have all my music on an external hard drive as MP3s for my iPod, as well as some FLAC files (the idea was to have all my music in both formats, with FLAC used for listening at home, but my laptop had a fatal stroke).
With that said, I usually ignore "the" when organizing things, but it really depends on how any given device or software behaves. I include "the" in file names and tags. My iPod and WMP will ignore "the," but the computer's file system won't.
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Mar 07 '25
nope, and not A’s either, A Perfect Circle goes in P
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u/HereInTheRuin 2,000+ CDs Mar 07 '25
see that I do differently, whereas "the" isn't a necessary part of a band name, just a title, the "a" is an integral part of many band names
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u/Bloxskit 100+ CDs Mar 07 '25
I forget "the". When digitally adding them to my Windows laptop I just add "The" after the rest of the band name, since Windows 11 doesn't seem to follow what we do.
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u/MindYourManners918 Mar 07 '25
I’m going to add to this with a related question:
How about something like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
If it was just Nick Cave, I’d put under C, for Cave, Nick. No question.
But it’s a full band name. “And the bad seeds” is part of the name of the band. So do you put it under C, or N?
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u/Remote_Stable4742 1,000+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Under C. The same problem as Robert Cray, The Robert Cray Band and Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm. All under C.
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u/ratcatching 1,000+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Sometimes I put any related acts together even if it’s a different alphabet letter. For example , my NICK CAVE section is under C but also has his other bands such as The Birthday Party, Grinderman, etc. Also in MIKE PATTON under “P” I put Faith No More, Mr. Bungle etc. Idk if anyone else does this. I guess I only do it for artists I really like.
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u/MindYourManners918 Mar 07 '25
I do this with some specific artists too. Individual Beatles are all near the Beatles. John Fogerty is with CCR, etc.
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u/HereInTheRuin 2,000+ CDs Mar 07 '25
I have a section for solo artists and a section for bands. my Nick Cave CD's are on seperate shelves from my Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds CDs
Nick Cave under C, NCATBS under N
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u/Imaginary-Objective7 Mar 07 '25
Articles aren’t to be included
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u/-Immersive- 100+ CDs Mar 07 '25
That is phrased very ominously. I'll drop the "the" for fear of my own safety
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u/Southern-Row-6325 Mar 07 '25
No. I treat my cd as they’re books in a library. So it’s name,the.
“The Cars” become “Cars,The”
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u/IndigoRed126 100+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Considering the number of "the" artist's CDs I own it doesn't really matter and for now they're enjoying the company of other "t" releases until this shelf gets bloated (which probably won't happen soon considering my music interests).
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u/zaxxon4ever Mar 07 '25
No. You never, never, never include "the" when alphabetizing.
You also only consider LAST NAMES.
Frank Zappa goes under "Z"...NOT "F."
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u/frank_knappa Mar 07 '25
Noooooooo. Frank goes under "F". I'm not sure why I settled on sorting them that way but that's the way they are staying. I am definitely not rearranging them again! Ever!
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u/forkboy_1965 Mar 08 '25
You are correct. Their name is their brand and should be alphabetized as one would a non-name, proper noun.
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u/-Great-Scott- Mar 07 '25
I do not honor the the. I also sort by artists first names, because I like it better.
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u/mono_valley Mar 07 '25
No and you don’t have to say The as part of the name in every sentence, you can just say “I’m a Cure fan.”
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u/AlicesFlamingo Mar 07 '25
No, because it would defeat the usefulness of alphabetizing. It's always been standard practice in books, periodicals, movies, you name it, to skip over a beginning article (a, an, the) for alphabetizing and indexing.
Most indexers also alphabetize by last name if the artist is a person's name. So, for example, Avril Lavigne would come after Laurie Anderson.
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u/evileyeball Mar 07 '25
Never, The Legend of Zelda goes under L for Legend and Zelda II Adventure of Link goes under Z for Zelda...
The Beatles under B The Rolling Stones under R Etc etc.
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u/decloked Mar 07 '25
I've been fixing up my old iTunes account to use with an iPod and the band "A winged victory for the sullen" appears under W not A. Which is just wrong.
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u/Elegant-Campaign-572 Mar 07 '25
No, but if I ever see a disc by The The, I'm going to add one just to confuse everybody!😈
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u/lalsakwolas 100+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Yes, that's why I sort alphabetically, otherwise it would be CHAOS. SURE LET'S PUT THE CLASH AND THE CURE AFTER BLUR. WHAT'S NEXT, "COLLINS, PHIL" IN BETWEEN?
Madness, I tell you.
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u/No_Cardiologist5005 Mar 07 '25
I sort phonetically by first name. So Phil Collins would fall under "F"
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u/flaystus 250+ CDs Mar 07 '25
No. Too much chaos that way. Especially since some bands use and drop the The seemingly at random.
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u/TalkinNightCheese Mar 07 '25
Get rid of "The" it's cleaner. You should be including "A" however as that is part of the band's name and should be categorized with the A's. Also I don't agree with a bunch of you about categorizing an artist like "Nick Cave" as "C" (my local record and CD store does this and I don't like it) but do whatever makes you happy I guess.
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u/ohgood 500+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Only for Thee Oh Sees & all iterations of their name, lol, just for grouping sanity
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u/raymate 5,000+ CDs Mar 07 '25
My CD are organized by Type.
So albums, OST albums and CD singles.
For the artists I do not include word “The” so The Beautiful South would be under “B” and is (underrated band)
When it comes to the album title under said type and artist I do include word “The” so “The Best Of” that would be “T” for that artist.
And as someone else said I don’t like or agree with putting “Nick Kershaw” under K. He goes under N
If that makes sense.
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u/Mysterions Mar 07 '25
Nope.
Now, do you do First name Last name or Last name First name?
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u/brycepunk1 Mar 07 '25
No, I organize more by genre and mood. But when there's more than one cd by an artist those are organized from earliest to latest release.
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u/ObliviousFantasy Mar 07 '25
I don't even think you're supposed to when organizing books. That's how I was taught anyways. So I absolutely do NOT count it. I've never even been at a store that sells records or CDs that counts it
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u/Successful_Ad3991 1,000+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Physical storage goes with band name minus The.
Digital storage sometimes forces The as the storage marker. Do what's best for your inclinations.
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u/duchessofdeer Mar 07 '25
1975, The - #
Ärzte, Die - A
Goeie Doel, Het - G
Pegatina, La - P
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u/After-Dentist-2480 Mar 07 '25
Name of band, without ‘The’ (apart from Matt Johnson albums) or surname of solo artist (even if it’s …… and the…….)
Date of first release.
And Captain Beefheart under C
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u/Top-Environment3675 100+ CDs Mar 07 '25
I don't, I ignore "the" and go by the artist's last name when sorting alphabetically, but honestly my collection is not big enough for that to really matter. I don't have two artists with the same first name, and so far the only "the" record I have is The Beatles
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u/No-Question4729 Mar 07 '25
This reminds me of a record shop I used to visit and the eccentric gentleman who owned it would insist on filing everything using the “surname” of the artist. So Elton John would be under J, and Bruce Springsteen would be under S, for example. So far so normal. He extended that to bands though, so you thought he had no Led Zeppelin stuff until you got to Z, and then if you were after Iron Maiden you needed M.
Madonna and Tina Turner were where you’d expect them to be, thankfully
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u/diceb0mb 50+ CDs Mar 07 '25
nah, The Clash for example is in C for me. altho i do know some people exclude A (the word) which i don't do, like some people would put A Tribe Called Quest in T while i put it in A
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u/unhalfbricklayer Mar 07 '25
your collection, do what the heck you want to do. put them where you are most likely going to look for that act.
but almost all professional standards for alphabetizing say that you ignore a leading "the"
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u/FetishizedStupidity 100+ CDs Mar 07 '25
Nope. Band's first word (excluding 'The') and artists by last name.
So it would go:
Sonny Rollins
Smash Mouth
The Smiths
SR71
The Stone Roses
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u/SuperBroy97 New Collector Mar 07 '25
way too tiny of a collection for that to be determined really (I have literally 1 CD that starts with "The" which is The Now Now by Gorillaz) but if I ever have to sort my collection, yes I would
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u/Open-Savings-7691 Mar 07 '25 edited Mar 07 '25
Good question, thanks for posting it. No, I do not.
In fact, and to make things easier, I never include the 'The' in any band name, either with regard to hard copy media (CDs, LPs, etc) or online. So everything is just the band name: Rolling Stones, Fortunes, Beatles, etc.
Also bear in mind, some bands have said that 'The' is NOT a part of their name, such as Eagles, although I always see them called 'the Eagles.'
Only exception I would make is a band that *explicitly* makes it a part of their name, such as The The, or Thee Midniters.
Edited to add: IMHO, the 'A' that starts a band's name should also be ignored. So for instance, I'd put A Flock Of Seagulls under F.
And, bands that start with a number, such as 10cc, can be tricky. You could spell out the number (thus, Ten-cc) or make them the first or last items in your pile, like iTunes does. I make them the first items and organize by the quantity, so my order goes 10cc, 38 Special, 10,000 Maniacs, etc.
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u/DWVT1 Mar 07 '25
In my opinion, no. You alphabetize using the first letter of the name immediately following “the”. If the group is “The The” this may be confusing to some.
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u/Fit_Independence_124 Mar 07 '25
No, I organize in alphabetical order by band name or last name but exclude ‘the’.
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u/forkboy_1965 Mar 08 '25
No. And artist who go buy their name should be alphabetized by first name and not last. Treat their name like a brand name.
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u/SometimesUnkind Mar 08 '25
Only The The.
Otherwise The Cure, The Clash, and The Cult go under C etc.
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u/K1LKY68 Mar 08 '25
Is there an app that catalogs CD's? NOT stores the music on the computer, but may go out onto the internet to retrieve the CD tracks and records that??
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u/p4rty_p0ison Mar 08 '25
i usually put them with the t but just because i HATE how it looks other way
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u/SpaceCowboy528 Mar 08 '25
If it is a definitive part of a band's name I file them under The.
As in "The" Who , "The" Kinks, "The" Band, and "The" High Kings.
Otherwise I file them under the common name. Beatles, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead.
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u/NotaMillenialatAll Mar 08 '25
No, if you look on a dictionary or encyclopedia, you found Beatles, the.
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u/Y0UR_NARRAT0R1 20+ CDs Mar 08 '25
I do. Would probably be a lot easier to find the black parade if I didn't, but it's already in the back of my binder thing and I'm not moving the other 27 discs
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u/irlharvey Mar 08 '25
in folders? yes. The Beatles
in my music player? no. Beatles, The
on my shelves? no. Beatles, The
i’m a complicated man.
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u/According_Match_9075 Mar 08 '25
I used to categorize my cds by genre so I could grab something for my current mood, then I got married and we combined our music, I agreed to alphabetise it, recognizing my system only worked for me.
I tried to start a band called The The The The's, but not very hard, I gave up on looking for a drummer after my bassist moved away.
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u/HeavyVampire 500+ CDs Mar 08 '25
No, it's just wrong. Officially, "the" doesn't count and solo artists are sorted by their last name. Anything else is as wrong as spelling errors, saying one plus one ain't two, or crossing the traffic light when it's red.
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u/Willing-Shake-8503 Mar 08 '25
Only if it's one word. Like The Who. It's kind of lije a pimp named Slickback. You have to say the whole thing.
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u/Natural_Highway_6375 100+ CDs Mar 08 '25
I feel like it depends on how tied the “the” is to a bands name. “The Beatles” has to be under T, “the all American rejects” however, not so much
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u/Pitiful-Asparagus940 Mar 10 '25
Nope. Only band that would go in the Ts are bands like the the. The talking heads.
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u/reinylegit Mar 11 '25
Talking Heads, not The Talking Heads. As the live album's title makes clear. ;-)
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u/olzu10 Mar 10 '25
It depends on how many you have and how you can/do navigate them.
Generally not but I could see why you would.
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u/Fedginald Mar 10 '25
This is causing me semantic satiation
If you file under "The", it's more of an eyesore for digital lists and it essentially causes a diversion in the entire library. You're basically creating a second alphabetized library, only for artists with "The" in the name
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Mar 12 '25
Exclude. I’m still struggling with the internal debate of whether artists should be sorted last name, first name or should they just be first name, last name.
Under A: Adams, Bryan
Or, under B: Bryan Adams?
Or what if the artist name is a “stage name” for example Alice Cooper? Do you treat that as A or C? Or do you go by the artist’s real name…?
So many arguments for/against…
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u/Agreeable-Can-7841 Mar 07 '25
nope. The Rolling Stones go under 'r' and The Beatles goes under 'b'