Music

Young people pay for more music than older fans

by Jeremy Mersereau

Though it’s counter to the established narrative thrust upon us by a million old men eternally yelling @ various clouds, new research suggests that young people are actually much more willing to pay for their music than their older, Earning Man-attending counterparts.

A new study from Cowen Group examined the music-purchasing habits of 2,500 Americans, and found that 46% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 had paid for music in the past past month, as compared to a mere 26% of the 45-54 set and 12% for the retirees. In short: next time we go pirate hunting, we ought to start with the AARP offices.

Obviously, it’s not a huge intuitive leap to understand that young people are generally interested in (non-Bublé or clarinet-inclusive) music, and thus of course purchases drop off with age. What’s more compelling is that even in the age of Spotify and the seemingly-inevitable ascendance of streaming, 46% still paid for music.

It remains to be seen whether the purchase of digital downloads are on their way to extinction entirely, as some predict, or whether they’ll remain a part of the industry alongside streaming subscription revenue and identity-bolstering vinyl sales. “How will people know I smoke weed if i don’t drop $60 on this VG+ Phish album?”

[h/t Business Insider]