Music
Study says vinyl buyers are old middle-aged loners
by Jeremy Mersereau
August 11, 2016
The demographics of the average vinyl purchaser may (not) surprise you.
They might not even listen to their records, but at least now we know vinyl obsessives are probably lonely introverts! Wait, we already knew that.
According to a new study from UK market research firm YouGov, the demographics of buyers of vinyl records in 2016 are exactly what you’d expect – they’re middle-aged, introverted loners. Enthusiasts of the classic format are described as between the ages of 45 and 54, “enjoy being alone”, and are more likely to keep their feelings to themselves. Why do I feel like watching Ghost World all of a sudden?
As per the study, the least likely buyers of vinyl in the general UK population are people aged 18-24, which flies counter to the generally accepted wisdom that young music fans are driving the vinyl revival. In fact, a US study from MusicWatch claimed that over half of American vinyl buyers of last year were under 25. Makes sense to me, actually: I’d bet money young Americans are far more concerned with their personal brand and what their record shelf “says about them” than the Brits.
The study also found that vinyl buyers are far more likely to say music plays a central role in their lives, with 66% saying that they “could not get through a day without listening to music”, and the other third saying they listen to music “whenever they can”. Damn, this is why we need music studies, how else would we ever get precious informational nuggets like ‘vinyl buyers like music a lot’ otherwise?
Predictably, vinyl proponents are also no fans of BitTorrent, either – 59% of them say downloading music is ‘wrong’. Hey, some might say it’s ‘wrong’ to spend $400 on a rare 1971 pressing of Ramases’ Space Hymns, but to each their own.
[H/T The Vinyl Factory]
