I remember my bday presents being Backstreet Boys and Hanson cassettes.
Also, when i was growing i used to record songs from the radio

I made my own compilations with all the radio tags lol
I was so happy when my family started buying cd's, i could skip songs easily.
Now i collect vinyl too.
Love music
PS: Streaming is the most boring of all them. Nothing like go to the store, buy your album , look at the pics and lyrics in the booklet
Did you use cassettes?