What do the statistics say about the age of Audiophiles and the replacement rate?
I'm unable to verify this so I'd like some guidance. I have a family member who is an authorized dealer of some really nice product lines (ARC, Magnepan, Sonus, Bryston).
He won't confirm or deny my hunch, but at his shop I see mostly older white, affluent men. I see very few middle age men and no men in their 20s. I don't keep all shop hours, but I do spend about 15 hrs./wk. there. My relative won't show me his sales demographic but I can see with my own eyes.
So my question is this: Is there an equivalent replacement stream of new blood entering the Audiophile world or not? Do you have statistical proof?
If the universe of Audiophiles (supposedly 20,000 in the lower 48) is indeed shrinking where does that leave the manufacturers and dealers?
https://youtu.be/Pz5tSjE4afM?si=L7LgeRRzwAWwRLnE Saw this videos along with the most popular comments. The future of audio looks very gloomy. A lot of the younglings are lured into the Reddit and ASR cult. Getting brainwashed by the dark side of measurements. |
Theres small glimpses here and there, but overall statistics of the hobby are hard to find since everything is compartmentalized. Last year I had mentioned that it seems like a meta-analysis of some kind would be useful. A few years ago the average age of members on this forum was 61. A poll on reddit's r/audiophile showed that 354 members were under 40, while 254 were over 50. Another poll from the same subreddit reveled that out of 516 participants, a strong majority were also members of ASR, while few belonged to Audiogon or other forums. As previous members mentioned, there seems to be younger crowds in forums such as Head-Fi, ASR, and Reddit. The variables that could potentially be impacting this hobby and its future have already been mentioned; there’s likely a multitude of reasons. My suspicion with limited confidence: - Too many competing distractions and financial obligations - Cost of living, student loans, and housing - Portability of music services that also offer personalization (double-edged sword) I also feel that if there wasn’t an issue or concern about the future, we wouldn’t be questioning or discussing - not only on this forum, but other forums as well. I think this hobby is going to look rather different in the next 25 to 50 years. I often question what Audiogon Forums will look like and whether enthusiasts will refer back to tap forgotten knowledge and experiences that have dissolved into the ether.
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@kennymacc Spot on. Completely agree. I'll use Triumph as an example. Their music had a positive anthem type quality to almost all of their songs. Like "Fight the Good Fight", "Magic Power", "Never Surrender", their songs were uplifting, and if you listen to the lyrics the messages were positive and powerful. Never mind the fact that they defined an entire generation and the music was great. You just don't see bands putting out those types of messages anymore...sadly... |
