photo by Antonis SHEN

I was watching the Grammy’s last week and really got to thinking about the next generation of music fans. Kids from ages 10 on up to say 24-25 (depending on what survey and stats you want to tackle), with an influential social circle and still using MTV to shift their idea of the real world. This demographic still has a stronghold on a high disposable income and music ranks right on top with social purchases.

I got a hold of some awesome data from MTV Sticky, a Viacom company that looks into youth trends, on teens and music. The stats and info were not too surprising, but give an insight into where your music marketing dollars should be targeted.

• 76% would rather live without sex than without music for a week
• 2/3 would choose music as their one luxury, over a phone or a TV if stranded on a dessert island
• 1/2 of those surveyed said that they watch music videos on TV every day or most days (rising to 2/3 among 16-24s). Watching music videos on the computer is also increasingly important, with half of 16-24 year-olds watching music videos online everyday or most days, and a further third doing so approximately once a week.
• almost half agree that people should have to pay for the music they want to listen to.
• 43% of teens are listening to music on their phones everyday/most days compared to 20% of those aged over 20. The computer remains the most popular device for consuming music, with 85% of those surveyed listening to music on their computer in the last week, rising to 94% of teens.

What This Means To You

I don’t think these stats should be news to many in the digital music world. I think there are some things that stick out on the action plan for musicians if they want to reach this target demographic.

You need to use video. It’s not as hard or expensive as you may think. For $150 you can get an HD quality camera with a mic input and perform quick edits to get the video on YouTube immediately. Some reasons beyond the obvious are points that were further examined in these findings. YouTube is preloaded on the homescreen of the iPhone. The Google phones are big on YouTube (since the former owns the latter). Add that to the last stat where 43% of teens listen to music on their phone.

You need to find creative ways to add value to your music. If this demo is willing to pay for music, you need to give them options to do so. This includes physical stuff like CD’s, DVD’s and merch to digital stuff like memberships, downloads, ringtones, images, art and more. Teens like to express themselves out and in the open, thus why Hot Topic still rocks for their fasion. If you can give them the products they want and desire, you are giving them the opportunity to wear your brand on their sleeve literally.

The hybrid of music is here to stay. The millennial generation, along with the younger teens and tweens are living in a society that is multicultural in nature, not knowing a country divided by race for most of the rural and even urban cities. Millennials were instrumental in helping the online and mobile efforts of electing the last president, further etching that the message is more important than the race or ethnicity of a person. This directly correlates into music as well.

• At the Grammy’s you had Lil Wayne on stage with Eminem, Drake and Travis Barker.
• Jamie Foxx with T-Pain and Slash.
• You have acts like “Crunk-Core’s” 3Oh!3 topping the charts.
• You have Taylor Swift redefining a generation and doing so by crossing over from country to pop to country all the way to a smash collab with pop-punk outfit Boys Like Girls.

In your music, your fan base is no longer determind by the demographics you think. Look into your own iPod and see the diversity. Look for crossover potential and look into the mind of a prospective “next generation” fan. Does your punk band have roots that may be within 2 degrees of separation from Taylor Swift?

This may not be far from the truth

Your Punk Band -> Paramore -> Taylor Swift’s pop stuff

I wrote a few weeks back about Snoop on Martha Stewart and being featured in a day time soap. Older music fans are seeing the collage of music and are becoming more open to the sharing of fans.

Music is important to the youth.

It’s up to you to give it to them and shape the culture of these new music fans. 76% would give up sex for a week to keep listening to music! If you can’t tap into that stat, then man, we have some work to do!

What do you think of this new group of music fans? How is reaching Gen-Y, teens and tweens different than reaching the group in their late 20′s, 30′s, 40′s and up? What about their spending habits do you like/dislike?

Let’s talk in the comments below!

-Greg Rollett