ARTICLE -Teens say they prefe vinyl to CDs

I actually prefer La Tour, Margeux, and Phelps

Here's the abstract of the source article:

This paper analyzes the (re)emergence of vinyl as an alternative format for music consumption in the digital age. Based on interviews conducted during recent field research on the affectivity of popular music, I argue that youth consumers adopt the seemingly regressive technology of LPs and turntables to resist industry?regulated contemporary modes of music consumption. Furthermore, their participation in vinyl culture enables them to counteract two of postmodernism's core tenets: a preoccupation with nostalgia and a perceived loss of personal agency.

In other words, this article provides no evidence that teens in general really do prefer vinyl, or even that there's a trend in that direction. Instead, he found some teens who do prefer vinyl, and asked them why. The answers weren't too surprising--they pretty much follow what fans of vinyl have been saying for years.

As for trends, vinyl sales in the U.S. were down more than 20% last year, while digital download sales almost tripled. Longer term, vinyl sales aren't dropping, but they aren't rising either, by any measure. Vinyl is a stable niche market, apparently with just enough youngsters coming in to replace the old guys being carried out.

:-) wooden boxes, commonly referred to as "cases" each contains 12 bottles, Actually in the case of phelps, the wooden boxes only carry 6 bottles, and feature ornate insignias burned into the wood, pretty cool actually

My teens (one now 20's) prefer vinyl, though they use ipod and cd their places (when the need for portability or convenience over rides sound quality). Pretty pragmatic, I say.

Is vinyl more popular with the youth in the E.U., vs. North America? Just wondering....

Never mind what they prefer. How many OWN turntables?

I'm all for anything that gets people to listen to music instead of sitting in front of the idiot box.
Larry

new vinyl pressings are down to 1500 to 2000 copies globally, with rare exception. stereophile recently proclaimed that 'more people are buying turntables today thaen anytime in the last decade'..........what they didn't say is that the growing unit numbers overall come from dj tables, and one box retro units (crosley,etc). ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS

I think that the basic point of the abstract was that of compilation of self-reported behavior of an undisclosed (size/compositon) group of teenagers as a secondary finding in a larger body of research with no further analysis asside from author commentary. IMHO this does not look like a very good source if you are writting a research paper.

IMO most younger people that are into vinyl like the nostalgia, heard somewhere that it is actually better sound quality, and convince themselves that their $100 Sony TT is reproducing said better sound.

Rememeber that the average consumer will buy a bucket full of digital to go with their hi-definition speakers that have 1,000 watts. Self-reported behavior is notoriously inaccurate data. Couple this with the mountain of misconceptions that the average consumer has about,... well,... everything and you have a great big pile of compromise.

Now go drink a nice Rothschild (now that we all know that we like wine) and listen to source of choice (or watch one of the greatest movies of all time,... The J___... yes,... that one).

Like 4yanx I have actual evidence based on 2 kids who went out and bought analog systems on their own and regularly acquire vinyl (they also have cd's, ipods etc.). Mostly they acquire the real cheap stuff from used record stores but I was surprised to find that the reggae/ska/rock bands they follow and whose shows they attend also sell LP's. Records have also allowed them to explore 60's and 70's rock on the cheap. In fact they now have more albums from that period than I did growing up in it. It's really strange listening to your son play Pink Floyd or Beatles albums that you grew up on 40 years ago.
One big difference from us is that to them it's all about the music not the sound. Kids seem to be into the music in whatever format makes it "musical" for them.

I do much of my music shopping in a college town, and I regularly see younger folks browsing the LP bins. But the average age of LP buyers is much, much higher than the average age of CD buyers in that shop.

I actually downloaded the whole article using the electronic journals subscribtions of the University library here. I still have to read it, but so far I would be pretty skeptical about this "research".

Drop me a line if anyone would like the pdf of the article.

Rene

Vinyl pants, maybe.

I think that is on the same level as teens in classic cars. A type of status symbol.