Does Anyone Buy Records Anymore?

Believe it or not it is National Record Store Day. Hard to believe record stores have their own day, but it may be harder to believe that people still buy records...or even entire albums.

In an era of instant downloads, the idea of going to a record store, looking through rows and rows of music and buying a new album seems hard to wrap your head around. And yet that is the way music was bought not that long ago.

In fact though I may be one of the few, I still enjoying buying an actual CD. Having the plastic case to hold in my hand, being able to read liner notes and see photos the artist chose to include inside...I still like having those things.

So am I the only one?

At my house I still have a huge bookcase filled with CDs. Rows and rows of the square plastic cases (in alphabetical order by artist cause I'm a bit OCD like that) all lined up and ready to listen to if I choose.

I mean I'm not against technology or anything, I do transfer all of these albums to iTunes so I have them on my iPod as well, but I like having the CDs too.

To me they seem like a bookshelf time capsule. Each CD from a different point in my life reminding of what I liked, bands that caught my ear or phases I went through musically. It's fun to look through the wall and think "what ever happened to these guys?" or "why did I like this?"

And even though I may almost never listen to these CDs again, I enjoy having them around. They seem more real than a handheld device filled with music.

So am I alone? Does anyone else still buy a CD just to have it? Do you still listen to them or put them in your iPod instead?