Millennial Impact on the Music Industry

By DAN EVANS

The radio  is no longer the place for young people to get new music, studies show.

 Millennials, those born between 1980 and 2000, get their music primarily through the internet, using streaming services that allows one to listen to whatever they want whenever they want. This is affecting the bottom line of artists in the music industry due to the fact that not everyone is paying for their premium subscription, which as a result short changes the artist, the record company, and the service itself.  In a report published by the Music Business Association, it is made apparent that AM/FM radio, for the first time, is not the leading source behind music discovery. An estimated 34 percent of those surveyed chose YouTube as their top mean for music discovery, while radio came in second at 32 percent.

“I can’t remember the last time I listened to a CD or the radio,” said college junior, Olivia Epley. “The only time I really listen to anything coming from a radio is when I have the aux chord plugged into my phone.”

A millennial is defined as a person born between the year 1980 and 2000. Millennials, unlike their Generation X parents, have grown up in a time where everything has gone digital and technology is rapidly expanding.  Information is much more easily accessible to people than they were just a few years ago. The digital age has had an impact on a number of industries throughout the world, perhaps none bigger than the impact that Millennials have had on the music industry.

“Nobody listens to records anymore,” said 56 year-old, Mark Evans. “As a kid growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, nothing sounded better than the sound of some rock music coming from a 45.”

Evans feels that today, many young people are only interested in certain artists after listening to a song or two that they have heard on the radio.

“Unless it was a single, you were forced to buy the record which had every song on the album,” Evans said. “You paid for the whole thing, so you might as well have listened to the entire thing.”

Evans claims that this is what grew his passion for music and appreciation for certain groups he would have otherwise never have gotten into.

This new idea of only downloading a single song or two is due to the use of online streaming. An even bigger indicator of the Millennial’s impact is that out of the 34 percent who chose YouTube, roughly 56 percent were in the age range of 15 to 19 years old.

 Many Millennials are now paying for online streaming services in order to be able to listen to whatever they want whenever they want. But the music industry has been taking a financial hit as a result of this because not everyone is paying for the services that they are using.

The study reported that 24 percent of premium users do not pay for their subscriptions due to things like having it included in other purchases, or simply using a friends account. Although it may not seem like it, the amount of money artists, record companies, and streaming services are losing is increasing rapidly.

“I am absolutely guilty of not paying for premium subscriptions,” said college sophomore Samantha Wheeler. “I use my mother’s Spotify premium account. As a college student, I really don’t have the money to shell out for it.” Wheeler is in the same boat as millions of other college students. With a full workload, it is hard to work enough hours in a week to be able to afford the extra few dollars a month for premium services,” explained college senior, Tori Risorto.

A recent Nielsen study, it was found that 46 percent of those surveyed said that they were unlikely to pay for premium subscriptions to music streaming services due to the fact that they are too expensive, or they do not bring enough income in to spare the money for it.

While the digital age has offered an innumerable amount of knowledge and exposure to a variety of topics, the music industry has embraced a whole different type of consumer as a result, yet seemingly longs for the days where everyone routinely visited the record store.

“I bought so many records when I was younger that I never got around to listening to half of them,” Evans said. “The digital age along with the consumer habits of younger people have changed the social aspect of the industry and have really hurt it from an economic standpoint as well.”

His advice to the Millennial Generation is to invest in an old record player and some 45’s. “It will truly give you a whole new appreciation for music.”

Online music sales (CDs, downloads) decline as streaming skyrockets https://t.co/vi1cUMRbHO pic.twitter.com/tKEws51eSu

— Roy Morgan (@roymorganonline) August 16, 2016