I don't think I've managed to ask the question I really want an answer to yet. I'll try again!
OK, I understand that there is a need to catolouge (as with stamps) but what do we hope this will tell us? Is it about the correct/ original context of the song, evolution or something I'm missing?
Is this to inform how a song "should" be performed?
Or is it just the (usually) male need to have the biggest collection, the rarest, the best.......?
Or is it a desire to somehow "own" the song because you collected it from the source singer?
I'm not looking for confrontation here, I'm just genuinely interested in what is the motivation to "collect".