This curatorial thesis positions music collecting in relation to gift-giving, identity, and personal perception. Collecting is used to examine what people keep, how it relates to their self- construction, and what effect material passed down from others has on their identity. The exhibition, Collected Identity, comprises seven artists' audio compositions that navigate family, love, heartbreak, and self-assurance through the exploration of music collections. Gift-giving is a multi-faceted tradition that imbues reciprocity and obligation into every collection—and is present despite the recent shift from physical to digital collecting practices. By commissioning audio works that use collected music, the exhibition demonstrates how influence can be exerted upon the self. The result is a conceptually-driven project that underscores music collections as both personal and cultural repositories of reflection and identification.