Anyone lost a shitload of music before?

[Tallison]

February 2004, car broken into, book of ~240 CDs stolen.

January 2005, had party, book of ~150 CDs disappears by next morning, never to be seen again.

August 2005, my 40g ipod, containing downloads of the majority of my collection has gone missing x 6 days.

All I can say is someone out there is enjoying a shitload of good, free music. Hope he/she fucking appreciates it.


I'm feeling sick over all this and am heading to work where it'll probably distract me all day. Any stories of major music loss among music lovers would bring some much needed consolation to my day. Thanks, guys.

[Archae]

1. Probably meth heads.

Wouldn't know good music if they heard it.
They just wanted something to fence for their next fix.

[Tallison]

2. See, and the prospect of

folks not even enjoying what they stole is just salt in the wound, if that makes any sense. I just loved that music.

[Systematic Chaos]

3. Okay, how about ~150 CDs AND most of what I own in one night?

My place was robbed in October, 2003. The motherfuckers got 1/4 of my CD collection, PLUS:

Over 100 PlayStation 1 games
PlayStation 2 with 15 games, special controllers and network connector
27" Magnavox TV and VCR
2 Telephones
Game Boy Advance with ~20 games
My ENTIRE library of computer games, about 120 titles in a large binder
About $60 in cash, including my entire collection of silver certificates and silver coins

I bought my own copy of Dungeons and Dragons: Eye of the Beholder from Game Stop about 8 months later when I got my new GBA. I knew this because in the save game files, my character names included my cats and my very rare last name backwards. Game Stop made no effort to track down who traded them the game. And this was less than a month after my mother died.

[LynzM]

9. Dude, that sucks...

How ironic that you got back your own copy. That sucks, though. Getting burglarized... I will never understand people who do that as a means of subsistance, I don't think :shrug:

[Tallison]

19. I feel your pain.

I checked the local used CD store to see if anything turned up. They said they wouldn't have accepted any CDs or DVDs that weren't in a jewel case w/liner notes (mine were all in books). When you stop and tally the original cost of all that shit, it's bowls you over. It takes years to amass a decent collection of anything. I try not to think about it.

Did you look into homeowners/renter's insurance? A lot of plans apparently cover stuff if you file a police report. Unfortunately mine didn't.

[Jamastiene]

4. Yes, I have, but under different circumstances.

Long story short, I was lucky to be alive that day, even though I was homeless for a period of time. I lost some really rare Sex Pistols picture discs, the majority of my rare vinyl collection, a rare Blondie collector's item from the 70's and my life sized Elvira standup. I still cringe when I remember it.

[Tallison]

20. That puts things into perspective.

Helps to meditate on the reality that I've never been a victim of violent crime and was ever able to afford such luxury stuff to begin with, so thanks. :)

A life-sized Elvira standup? Interesting a person would choose something that conspicuous to steal.

[Jamastiene]

27. It wasn't stolen.

It was lost. It's a long story, but by not knowing my aunt and I were going to be evicted until the last minute is why I lost it all. And having a family member try to do a mercy killing on me that caused a massive head wound not bad enough to hospitalize me but bad enough to make me bleed all over the house and hurt like a sob made it incredibly hard to think and function enough to get all my precious music collection.

It put things in perspective for me too.

Let's just say that the sound effect they use in movies when someone is hit in the head with a hammer is nothing like the real thing. What I heard and felt that day was entirely different that Hollywood's version. It's never a one blow and they fall to the floor and die instantly type thing. And that shaking they show sometimes when the person has a head wound doesn't automatically die, doesn't always knock the person completely unaware. Sometimes you have to fight to get the hammer and the backup hammer away while you are reeling from the first blow and bleeding all over the place. My blood was cold by the time it ran down to my shoulders and down my back. I still have the shirt I was wearing that day and the hammer hidden in the trunk of the car as a reminder. I'll never forget it.

I loved my dogs and my cats in addition to my music. They were all special in some psychological or physical way, like one of my dogs had separation anxiety when he was separated from me. I had no one who could take him and let me come see him. I had to have him put to sleep. He was too violent and destructive when I wasn't near him. I was the ONLY person in the world that could calm him down. My older dog was so old (16 year old Yorkie) that no one would know all the things he needed to function. He was geriactric. He needed special help to get around and in order to eat had to be handfed and only trusted me to do it.

Actually talking about this with you has helped me realize something odd. All my animals have always had medical or psychological problems that it seems only I can deal with. Most people wouldn't have my animals. I now have a cat with asthma, a cat with inflammed bowel disease, and a cat with separation anxiety. No one would do the things for them that it would take to keep them stable and healthy and happy.

And believe it or not, it bothers me more that I couldn't find a way to save my dogs and my cats, than it does that I lost most of my music collection. They depended on me and no one else would have put up with the fact that they needed so much care. That will never quit bothering me. I feel like I failed THEM. I couldn't think for the life of me during that time. I still have trouble with my memory. I have to write down when it is time for medications for my cats that I have now. I have to write everything down now, or I'll forget.

And yes, I can see why you are having a hard time with the thefts. It's insulting and despicable that someone would steal someone's music. A person's music collection is precious to them especially. It's personal.

What music of mine that I was able to save, helped me a lot to get through the trauma and the shock and the pain I was in at that time in my life. I am still using it to get me through college now. It's a personal thing that many people in my town don't know I am going through. They just think, wow, she's smart. They don't know that I was smarter before all this happened. I could have made straight A's in high school easily, but wasted it. They don't know that making straight A's in college right now for me is super hard and takes extra effort just to be able to do it. They don't know what happened and they think I'm nuts to try to make straight A's in college as long as possible. They just think for an ordinary person with what they think ordinary experiences in life it's nuts to try to make straight A's. They just know to expect me to understand the class material before the other students get it. They expect a lot from me and have no clue that I got smacked in the head with a hammer bad enough I had to be checked by a doctor and had to lie to him about what happened because my mother took over and hid the crime to punish my aunt privately. I live in a strange world, but I intend to make straight A's in college and write a book someday if possible. I want to be a writer but I'm taking computer engineering so I can support myself while I try to make friends with the right teachers and eventually bring it up that I'd like to write books.

Thanks for letting me talk about it. I know it's hard to read and hard to hear, but it helps to have people I can talk to who understand music and how it can be a stabalizing influence in a person's weird world. I know I love music to this day although I can't play guitar any more, I can still listen and get relief from bad memories. That helps a lot. Coming to DU helps more than anyone on here realizes because I live in a red state and people here in my hometown aren't quite right in the head to me, odd as that sounds. :D

[LiberalVoice]

5. Got car jacked at gunpoint...

Lost 220 bucks in cahs...my wallet, not many CD's...about 10 ...My car turned up a month later and had appparently been "Involved in a homicide". :shrug:

[Tallison]

21. Holy shit.

Uh, that helps put things in perspective. I haven't been back to Adams Morgan in DC since my car got broken into. That very night, I learned later, someone stole a police cruiser parked right off Calvert St. (the main strip). Funny thing is that my entire CD collection cost more than the current worth of my car, which is why after getting two books stolen I wound up buying an ipod.

So glad you made it out of that nightmare safe!

[LiberalVoice]

29. Yeah...

I bought an Ipod a few weeks ago...So much more useful then carrying around a crap load of cd's.

[lildreamer316]

6. Imagine

having this happen if you are a DJ who works 5 nights a week.
Hubby had this happen a bunch. We now have a laptop with his library and a backup library at home. Also going to rebuy (sold other one) a removable hard drive JIC.

[Tallison]

23. It's always a risk

when you cart massive amounts of music around. I've gotta' have some with me all the time. It really struck me after the 2nd book was stolen to realize that I've sunk way more $ into my music collection than my 2001 Honda Accord is currently worth. That's when I got the ipod. So I suppose losing that certainly beats the alternative.

After the 1st book was stolen I was so upset trying to reconstruct what I'd lost I wound up overcompensating and buying several thousands worth of music in the ensuing month and a half. It's as if I'm naked without it! Not like that w/any other material thing at all.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

7. Yep, Some asswipe sat on my folder with CD's

with 1000's of mp3s from the good old napster days.
:mad:

[Misunderestimator]

8. Yep, my entire CD tower with at least 200 CDs disappeared in my move

to CA :cry: :grr:

[Tallison]

45. Disappeared or

"disappeared"? The worst is not knowing for sure. Can't help but wonder if and when and where they've been heard since...

[LynzM]

10. After reading the rest of the replies on this post....

80 CDs seems like a measily number... but it was almost every CD I owned, collected over almost 10 years, some from abroad (hard to replace)... :grr:

[sendero]

12. If someone DID..

... steal my CDS, they'd be in for a downer, because it is all good music they will have never heard of :)

[LynzM]

16. LOL, same here....

Let's just say, I have eclectic tastes ;) Here's the top chunk of my internet radio picks... some are very mainstream, others, not so much... :)

Korn
Barenaked Ladies
NoFx
The Offspring
Rage Against The Machine
Seven Mary Three
Simon & Garfunkel
Tool
They Might Be Giants
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Robin Williams
Sevendust
Leahy
Atwater-Donnelly
Gaelic Storm
System Of A Down
Flogging Molly
Disturbed
The Chieftains
London Les Miserables
London Phantom Of The Opera Cast
Anúna
Aphex Twin
Chris Isaak
Kansas
Live
Led Zeppelin
Natalie MacMaster
Dougie MacLean
Metallica
Matchbox Twenty
Moby
Willie Nelson
Mouth Music
Oyster Band
Pearl Jam
Phish
Maddy Prior

[Tallison]

24. Yep...

Among the stuff I lost was some Chieftans, Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel, A3, a LOT of Bob Dylan, Zepplin, Paul Simon, Jeff Beck, Steve Vai, Steely Dan, Robin Williams, Ry Cooder, kd lang, Steve Earl, JJ Cale, John Prine...

And you know, I wouldn't feel so bad if the thieving listeners wound up discovering and enjoying a whole new world of great sound. It'd still suck, but in a more agreeably spirited way.

[sendero]

11. Might I suggest...

... making copies for the car? I would never carry the original CD in a car. It will get scratched up, stolen, etc.

For 5 minutes time and $0.30 for a blank CD, you can copy it and leave the original at home in pristine, safe, condition.

[rbnyc]

13. Yes, all my favorites were just stolen!

I'm asking my friends and family to replace them for my upcoming birthday.

I've put together a wish-list.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/103-9199108-7979062?%5Fencoding=UTF8&id=2Z0VIE6B9TRR0

However some were bootlegs, and some out-of-print, and I can't find them anywhere.

:(

Anyway, I'm so sorry. I know how you feel. It truly sucks!

[Tallison]

46. Good idea

Of course, I'll probably die before seeing enough birthdays and Xmases for people to gift them all back. I've already sunk well > than $2,000 on replacements. Makes me sick to consider how much more music I could have acquired with as much...

[Pystoff]

14. Yep puter freaked out and couldn't be started even

Lost 1200 songs I worked hard to pirate (napster in the good ole days).

Including everything by the Stones from 68-79 rare and live stuff as well.

[Tallison]

26. Oooh, ouch!

Losing old, rare Stones must have hurt. '68 through late '70s constituted their apogee. I think I have 3 copies of Let it Bleed after being unable to find it, immediately replacing it, only for the original to turn up later. I can't be without that album. I feel for 'ya. Wonder what rare stuff you had...

[AlCzervik]

15. yes, when my car got stolen last summer i lost almost my entire collection

and since then i've been rebuilding it and now i only leave burned copies of cd's in my car and nothing else.

[Tallison]

39. I can't imagine

losing my entire collection. It's worth more than my car. Jesus, I'm so sorry!

[WeRQ4U]

17. Lost every single piece of music I owned about 5 years ago.

Someone broke into my jeep, stole all my CDs, my stereo from the dashboard, my flash memory drive and my laptop computer. The insurance company gave me plenty of money to replace them, but it still really sucked.

[Tallison]

40. Did you have a deductible?

Mine is Allstate, and the ded is $1,000. Shit, can't imagine losing a computer on top of it all (mine has about 40gigs of music on it). I should get a hard drive back up, come to think of it...

[JimmyJazz]

18. I lost all my vinyl in a flood last fall. Yowza - that hurt.

:cry: I had original presses of Happy Jack and Sell Out and a copy of Some Girls before they made the changes to the cover art. :(

Yeah. It sux. I feel for you.

[Tallison]

41. Wow

Vinyl would be truly irreplaceable. How heartbreaking!

[DS1]

22. No, but I did lose about 60 gigs of photos before

Thanks to some Maxtor piece of shit hard drive :hi:

Western Digital, the best drives on the market. IMO.

[Up2Late]

25. I had my Car Stolen in Florida, after about 2 week, the Police recovered

the Car in a Police Sting operation, with only Minor damage (The crooks stole a standard equipment, center console map light), and the only other thing missing was my Music collection.

I think it was 180 90 minute (two albums per tape) Cassette Tapes. My music collection from the previous 10 years of my life (last year of High School to 28 years old).

Luckily, some of them were tapes of my Records and a few CD's, but a lot of them were the only version of that particular music.

It Sucks

P.S. I'm a Mini-Disc user now, your IPod situation is one of the main reasons I when with the Mini-Disc over the IPod.

[Ptah]

28. I hope whatever player they are using

flames up and sends them to urgent care..


That's just WRONG.

[Rising Phoenix]

30. when our computer died...

we lost hundreds of songs, it sucked, sorry you lost your tunes.

[Tallison]

31. Ouch!

That happened to someone upthread whose husband is a full-time DJ. They now backup their laptop with a second hard drive that never physiclally leaves the house. All the stuff on my computer is just a backup of the CDs themselves. I'm trying to find the ideal setup that will minimize the risk of theft/major financial loss, but what can I say? CDs are $$$, computers are $$$, Ipods are $$$, etc., etc...

Thanks for the consolation! :)

[no name no slogan]

32. It's called D-I-V-O-R-C-E

and thankfully, she has pretty shitty taste in music-- so i WIN! :silly:

[TroubleMan]

33. Many, many times

I lost about 100 tapes one time. My car had a broken window and they crawled through it and stole my tapes. Also, in the same car with a different broken window (LOL...long story), I didn't seal it up tight enough, and rain ruined like 50 or so tapes.

I lost about 200 cd's when I went to jail one time. Somebody broke into my car.

I lost 100 cd's two years later for the same reason.


I've got my music files on my comp backed up now. I've got between 10,000 and 15,000, and it would take me forever to build that back up.

[Tallison]

43. Yeah, I'm spending this weekend

reloading my entire collection (about 1,000) onto a new Mac (old files are on old pc that wouldn't hold a fraction). So far I've been working 12 hours and have only 1,365 tracks (3.7 days worth), taking up 10.51 gigs. Quite a while to go...

10,000-15,000 tracks? Jesus, how many albums do you have?

[TroubleMan]

48. Most of it I downloaded...I gave up on CD's

Total number of albums....I don't know.

I haven't got it all organized yet.

I got about 9500 on my current hard drive now. I got another one that's not installed right now. It's got a few thousand on it, but some are duplicates to what I have on this one. Mostly it's some old jazz, hip hop, and salsa, and some other stuff I haven't been into lately, but eventually I'll get in the mood and take out a weekend to organize it.

[BamaGirl]

34. Yeah

when I went in the Army my brother got all my tapes (ok, it was a long time ago lol) including about 50 Dead shows. I still miss those tapes. :cry:

[Tallison]

44. Folks tend to be

either Dead or Little Feat listeners. Imaginingg that happening to rare, live Little Feat tapes, I can feel your pain. Ouch!

[SmileyBoy]

35. Yup. I had a CD case with over 2 dozen albums in it.

I left it at the bus stop in front of my school when I was in tech college. The bus picked me up, and when it just left the school, I realized that I had left it there. The driver refused to go back.

Never saw it again.

[Clintmax]

36. If that were me, you'd just as well have to shoot me! n/t

[Omphaloskepsis]

37. I got robbed once..

And lost about 150 CD's. (This was before CD burners)

They also took my:

Skateboard
Nintendo - about 40 games
Sega - about 15 games
TV
VCR
Performa 6214 *thanks for getting that POS out of my house*
Trumpet
New Camera
Portable CD player (I payed about $150 for it at the time)
The biggest box of Legos known to man


And the best part... I had eaten a large amount of LSD right before I discovered this. Talking to the cops was a little difficult. It was a bad day for a 17 year old male that had just moved out of house a few weeks prior.

[ashling]

38. the most music I ever lost

other than my entire vinyl collection including all of my Beatles albumns during one of our moves . . . was when my guitar was stolen from my apartment. I was going in the backdoor when I heard someone run out the front with my guitar.

[sakabatou]

42. Old comp had lots of music

plus fanfiction. I've recovered the music and then some, but the fiction is gone for good.

[Dora]

47. 400+ cds lost in burglary

along with stereo components on which to play said cds.

Grr.