It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive... I collect records and digital files, but when I'm away from my collection - whether it be at work, on the go, in the car - I've been making use of Spotify.

The library is really good, and the app itself is quite nice. It has this amazing thing called QUEUING (iTunes - I'm looking at you) and the social aspect of it is actually pretty useful. You can search playlists for anything from "Jazz for dummies" to "Breaking Bad soundtrack" and sure enough, somebody will have gone through the trouble of assembling a really high quality mix from the Spotify library.

So no, Spotify obviously isn't going to give you the same feeling as physically collecting music releases. It doesn't try to.

I will add that I do have a few negatives surrounding Spotify. I think it is a pretty poor music discoverability tool (outside of searching for social playlists to subscribe to). The radio is very poor, and some of the tagging/cataloguing of their vast collection leaves a bit to be desired.

Spotify helps you be 'master of your library' by putting a file icon next to songs you have locally. It's pretty much telling you exactly what you need to download for 'backup.'