Time to find out how everyone sorts out their videos and Cds.
I have all my CDs in a rack with a label on each with a number on it and I always keep them in order. My videotapes are separated into bought and recorded. They sit in rows and I always set them back where it came from. I write a label and stick it on the tape when it is recorded with the tape position at the start and end of the programme and its name.
For DVDs:
TV/Box sets first, stupid cases with the wierd snap-over thing (The Matrix, etc) last, and by color for everything in between.
CDs:
Completely unsorted in CD case, jewel cases unsorted in a box in the closet.
I’ve got a really strage way of keeping my CDs in order. I have a rack that holds 600 CDs, the top level is only for Iron Maiden and related disks like ex singers. Then my CDs are sorted by bands that I like next best and if they are similar to each other. For instance I have my Savatage and Virgin Steele disks together, then there is the Iron Saviour, Gamma Ray, Helloween disks.
After all the bands that I have a number of CDs for are the bands I have one or two CDs in alphabetical order. On the bottom are my classical CDs and holiday CDs that don’t get much play.
My DVDs are put under the TV in no real order any more.
I collect show music. I have one plastic crate for each show, and have the CDS lined up in chronological order, first English, then Germanic languages, then Japanese, then other. It makes a nice wall arrangement.
Videos - all the videos with boxes go under the TV set. All the videos without boxes go on the shelf.
CDs - However we can get everything to fit under the stereo, no particular order.
Videotapes: Shelved in a cupboard above the TV. We divide it into two sections, one is for personal tapes (events, weddings etc) and the other is for programmes or movies recorded from TV. Everything, of course, is labelled.
DVDs: I don’t own too many DVDs, so they’re stored in a small drawer next to the TV, in no particular order.
CDs: Stored in another drawer in no particular order. However, I’m thinking about sorting them into order by genre, and then again by alphabet. It’ll never happen though 
the ones I’ve listened to recently are sitting in a stack next to the boom box. The ones I haven’t listened to recently are stuck in the cd rack the boom box is sitting on.
Back when I kept my CDs in their jewel cases (they’re in a binder now), they were organized by by band and then by release date, with the most recent release on top.
Movies are sorted alphabetically, with stuff I’ve taped on blank VHS tapes separated (labelling is pretty haphazard there, so alphabetizing is not a going concern).
I used to keep my music sorted by type of music (pop/rock; R&B; soundtracks; comedy; classical), then alphabetically by band and by year of album release, but since my wife just sticks stuff any old place, that has been simplified to straight alphabetical (with me fixing it all obsessively once or twice a week).
Well… lucky for my cds they rest in my 300 disc changer.
My videos and dvd’s are not so lucky. They get sorted on an almost daily basis by my lovely 2 year old. I’m not sure about her filing system but it seems to make her really happy.
She especially loves to sneak behind the couch and play in the jewel cases from all my cd’s. They live in little drawers like the cards at the library.
My CD collection reflects my more compulsive behavior. All CDs are kept in individual jewel boxes. They are stored in IKEA wooden racks that I have then finished with edge tape and two shellac coatings. They are organized alphabetically (except for the kids music which has a dedicated shelf) by performer or band and within each group, chronologically from top to bottom.
I also maintain an Excel database of all titles that I revise every 6 months or so. I always print out a listing and mark that up until the next database revision. Before the mid-80s I used to do this on a typewriter.
My kind of thread!
CDs, albums, forty-fives (yeah, I’m that old):
Alpha by artist and then chronologically within the artist.
Exceptions: soundtracks, cast recordings, spoken word, various artists are alpha under the category.
Videotapes:
Prerecorded: Sorted by the type of case: old clamshell first, after market plastic case next, and then cardboard sleeves and then alpha by title within each type (how anal is THAT? :)).
Tapes featuring a single show are alpha by title.
Mixed content tapes have a four character “serial number” (eg. AC01) and are filed by alpha.
Exceptions: MST3K and Star Trek tapes have their own shelves and are chronologically sorted.
DVDs: Alpha by title kept on separate shelves with no regard to case type.
Oh yeah, I keep a database of every CD/album/45 and a separate database for each song from each disc. I update whenever I get something new.
I have 3 kids - 2 are teenage girls and 1 is a 10 year old boy. As such, they wouldn’t know order if it knocked them in the head. T
I have, at various times in the past, catagorized the dvd’s and VHS into themes, alphabetically, most watched etc…It still ends up in a jumbled mess. So I content myself with a complete alphabetical listing which I keep in pristine condition on my computer.
My roomie and I had our movies organized by genre in our cinder block/2x4 entertainment center shelving… unfortunately, hell broke loose and they’re put wherever we have room.
My CDs, on the other hand, are mostly collected in my little 75-disc spinner (one of those cheapo rotating stacks). One stack is for my French/Spanish music, one is for U2 music and soundtracks featuring U2’s music (arranged by date of release)… which I can’t believe I just admitted… one stack is for popular music, and the fourth stack is for whatever’s left over.
CDs are divided into genres, then alphabetized first by band name, then by album name. The jewel case fo rthe CD I’m currently listening to is on top of the CD player.
Since I only have about 5 DVDs, they aren’t organized.
My dad puts three movies on each tape. Each tape is then labeled and numbered. Then he makes three index cards; one for each movie. Those are filed alphabetically in little file boxes. The movies are stored numerically, three or four rows deep, in two rooms in his house. We also have a sign-out book so he knows who has what movies. And he will track you like a dog if you keep one too long. He has also been known to revoke rental privileges for the vermon scum that would dare to lose a beloved tape. Ah, retirement!
Oh, and he has over 4,000 movies.
Wow. It’s like we’re twinsies or something.
I am in the process of moving the CDs from a large rack to a binder. I need the space.
But within both systems:
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Alphabetical by artist then chronologically by release date.
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Kids stuff has it’s own shelf/binder.
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Dated compilations have their own shelf/binder and are sorted by date (all the 80s comps then 90s comps etc).
I’ve already filled up a 200+ binder and I’ve only gotten through the J’s in category one up there. Gotta run to Best Buy to get some more.
Ours are a little more complex. We’ve got about 3000 or so cds. Last year we broke down and got some professional cd cabinets from Can-Am. The drawers hold 270 cds each. We’ve got a total of 14 drawers.
Most stuff is filed alphabetically by artist for rock/pop/soul. We have separate sections for box sets, jazz, soundtracks, compilations, world music, kids/comedy, and autographed cds. The drawer directly under the cd player is kind of a hot rotation/to be filed catch-all.
The Can-Am modular cabinets are expensive, but they have really improved our cd storage situation. I highly recommend them to anyone whose cd collection has taken over their living space.
Video storage is a bit more fluid. DVDs are arranged by tv shows/movies and music. We’re only talking a couple dozen, so it’s just one book shelf. (Although the Can-Am drawers will also hold dvds & video tapes.)
Video tapes are a bit more out of control. We have them in a bookshelf arranged by pre-recorded, then a hodge-podge of home recorded tapes often having shows taped over what was originally labeled on the tape. I have a mental juggling filing system which works for me but drives my wife and kids crazy. About twice a year they go through and pull out the tapes we’re never going to watch again and we donate those to the video department of the Academy of Art for students to use for recording projects.
I protest mightily, but I’m greatly outnumbered.