I love to own vinyl LPs of albums that I hold dear. It's not about embodying a lifestyle, it's not about projecting an image, it's not about consumerism. It's not even about the sound. Hell, many of them, I just keep sealed.
It's more about the authenticity - the feeling of owning a piece of something meaningful to me and also supporting the artist. Some day, when my kids are forced to divvy up my records and decide what to do with them, you bet they're gonna know that my autographed LP copy of the Manic Street Preachers' Holy Bible meant something to me.
I love the convenience of digital formats and streaming - but when your hard drives fail, your subscriptions to streaming services run out, or the company that you own purchase rights on digital songs folds, you don't own that music any more. It's gone.
Is there vanity involved in this? Sure, probably. Maybe my kids won't give two ****s what albums meant the world to me. But in a time when music is as expendable as a piece of bubblegum, it's nice to give something back to an artist that provided you something meaningful - to have a memento of this experience in the physical world. A piece of art, truly.
I'll get off the soap box now. Whatever way you love to own and consume music, just support the artists you love, somehow, even if it's just buying some merch or attending shows. They deserve it.
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