The psychological meaning of personal record collections and the impact of changing technological forms

This study explored the personal psychological meanings ascribed to collections of recorded music in a small sample of 20 British consumers. In-depth interviews were conducted with the collectors and the data analysed according to the conventions of grounded theory. Three aspects of record collecting were identified as psychologically important: two aspects – records’ status as sacred objects, and record collections as a facet of the self – were felt to be typical of traditional recorded music formats, particularly vinyl. The third, music as sensual (sensory and emotional) experience, appears to be related to contemporary trends in downloading digital music for storage on an iPod or similar player. It is suggested that this third aspect may increase in importance in the future, although aspects 1 and 2 remain salient, even for younger consumers.