I just realized that I do not believe I've purchased a piece of music in maybe 5 years.
For me, it's certainly longer.
I remember buying a record in 2001 for sure. But around that time, I had so many associates in the music biz that I got most things for free. I was largely responsible for playing the music between and before live acts at The Highdive, so all the major reps gave or shipped promo CDs to me. Some of them were in paperboard promo sleeves (Fat Possum comes to mind) but most were regular copies.
I really enjoyed the Black Keys performance, and I told them I hadn't received their CD from the rep (who was a UIUC alum working in Los Angeles). Patrick was dubious, but Dan totally got it, and gave me a copy.
Those were good times.