Music is such an amazing and fun part of life.

A good song is capable of triggering a memory, lifting your mood, or making you want to get up and dance. And isn’t it funny how certain albums become the soundtrack for important parts of you life? Most of us are pretty good about keeping our music collections organized in our teens and early twenties. But somewhere north of 25, many of us get sloppy. CDs and cassettes find their way into every room, empty cases pile up, and before you know it, you’ve lost track of what you have and can never seem to put your finger on the music you want when you are looking for it. Happily, it’s easy enough to reclaim your music by consolidating it in one, neat spot.

Alicia on ‘How Times Change’

‘Technology is quickly changing the music industry. My four-year-old daughter, Lucy, doesn’t really understand what a cassette tape is and she certainly doesn’t have a clue about records! My new car doesn’t have a tape deck and our stereo is an iPod hooked up to speakers. We live in a world of mp3 players, and unless you take the time to organize and digitalize your music, it is virtually impossible to stay up-to-date on your music catalog. When I found my Lisa Lobe CD shoved under a pile of magazines against a grainy coffee table — scratched up and now skipping — I knew I needed a better system!’

Sarah on ‘A Pack Rat’s Best Friend’

‘My husband, Gardiner, and I are music aficionados. We both had such large CD collections that they took up four large shelves in our living room. Our problem was, each time we’d go on a road trip, we’d put a stack of CDs in the car, and they’d never make it all the way back to their designated place in the living room. So the next time we hunted for a particular album, it was often missing in action. Last year we finally updated our system and put all of the music on our home computer and iPod. We also paid a little bit more to have an online backup service that ensures we’ll never lose the music. Once we did that, we sold all of our old CDs on eBay. And now not only do we have much less music clutter, we can always find exactly the music we’re looking for!’

Here are three easy tips that can get your music buttoned up in no time!

#1: Go Digital!
The era of cassette tapes is over – all music is going digital. In fact, in Alicia’s new home, she can plug her iPod right into the wall to play music throughout the rooms! Make space in your home and car by uploading all of your music on your computer. In addition to extra room around the home, going digital organizes all of your music in one spot. Transfer your cassettes to CDs and then upload them to your computer so you can listen to them anywhere at anytime – http://www.cassettes2cds.com will transfer cassettes and records to CDs and VHS to DVDs for you!

#2: From Aerosmith to Zeppelin
If you want to hold onto those CDs after you upload them onto the computer, organize them so that you can quickly find your favorite artist. An easy way is to organize them alphabetically, but don’t forget you can also organize them my song genre or decade as well. Alicia organizes her CDs from A to Z on her bookshelf, while Sarah’s music is all on her computer and can be organized alphabetically, by genre, by decade, by date added, or however she wants.

#3: The Playlist
Make playlists instead of CD mixes. This is great for the gym, your kids, and dinner parties. If you are having a hard time pitching a favorite mix that a friend made you, upload it onto your computer and store it as a playlist! If you are in the mood for variety, it is also fun to put your iPod on “shuffle” to randomly select the order of songs or albums.