What’s really hurting the audio hobby?

There is no one solution to the issues plaguing the audio  industry today. Most have been mentioned above, the demographic with money to spend and upwardly mobile are Millennials, most of them have a form of ADHD which stems from their diet, drugs (legal and otherwise) and overstimulation from using computers, pads and and cell phones. Add to that music being made (poorly) and sold today  largely isn't fit for consumption on anything that sounds decent. Then you have the relatively overnight disappearance of nearly physical media, coupled with said Millennials belief that everything should be open source (free to them no matter what it is).

Say what you want, and I don't mind decent digital audio, but my streaming experiences have all mostly negative. I wouldn't own a streaming device or subscribe to ITunes, Tidal, Pono or any of rest on a bet. Oh, don't forget the s*it show of continually changing formats in ar relatively short time, Vinyl and Cassette to CD was a decent interval change, however SACD, DVD/A, Blu-Ray plus all the high resolution formats were changing almost yearly over the last 20 years. One day a format was considered the last name in reproduction, next year they were not supporting it with music titles or equipment, something else had taken it's place. The same thing happened to home theater, which in and of itself gobbled up many potential customers,  yet another continually changing format with all the different surround sound gear and software titles. Here today gone tomorrow. Now we're seeing huge increases (relatively) in purchase and consumption of vinyl cassette and open reel.  

Don't forget by and large, (educators) haven't been teaching any sort of Art or Music,.. playing instruments, voice, or music appreciation of any type in schools (most anyway) the last 3 decades. I wouldn't call the garbage being sold or streamed music, it's mostly poor quality trite noise that likely does sound better on a phone or in ear buds. it sure doesn't sound good a decent stereo. I'm in my 50's, my dad always had really decent stereo gear and great music, having passed on this legacy to me. I was lucky enough to grow up when decent B&M stores were at their peak. We had The Discerning Ear, Gramophone and  Sight and Sound, when I was growing up. Gramophone is where I've bought 90% of my gear, Marantz, VPI, McIntosh, Sony ES, etc. There are not many places  like these today where you can go to see and hear what decent gear is about. Most places have a Best Buy, they have Magnolia but my experience there was the 20 somethings working there know/knew nothing about what the sell, which is a sin really, McIntosh used to be particular about the dealers representing them, I wouldn't put my companies gear in Magnolia to be sold,, but hey, you have to make money and to do that you need exposure, especially today in the audio business.

Younger people buying today either buy what someone else has they have seen or what is popular/being discussed on Facebook and other social media outlets. That includes, cars, phones, homes, stereos, whatever. They likely didn't have a dad who was in to music and stereo, didn't play an instrument in or out of school growing up and were not exposed to decent sounding music anywhere, no school trips to the symphony. Parents were too busy working  trying to survive tha to actually spend real quality time with them.No exposure or experience, things they do have experience and exposure, (cell phones, computers, tablets I-Pods/ITunes) they engage and support. Essentially it boils down to the world is a totally different place today, unfortunately.

I was very surprised at this whole analog/vinyl revival over the last decade. More than likely once the fad passes, and it's no longer the cool thing to buy and play records, the next generation will latch on to something else, the next big thing. So buy all the records you can while you can. In another 20 years they may pass into obscurity again, (along with this audio hobby/passion of ours) if we don't pass knowledge, desire and interest in music and audio down to the younger generations. Where it goes is largely up to us, those of us who are supporting this industry today. Once we're gone who knows what will happen to it...

If you don't have music as a part of your life, then it's like anything else you've missed out on; you don't know it exists as it does. Those class trips to the symphony while in school, Music class 3-5 times a week, taking guitar and piano lessons growing up, all that ingrains music in our lives. How many of the 30 somethings down to single digit students today will be able to boast the same thing?

I was lucky I had a father who was into the hifi scene, played in a local band both his brothers, and took the time to get me started playing Guitar, Sax, Percussion, and singing. He also passed down a top shelf cross section of pop/rock music from the 50's and 60's I was able to listen to growing up along with influences of my own age group. 

Don't forget the huge part radio, especially FM Stereo played in on music especially the better AOR stuff of the 60', 70's even the 80's with new wave/modern music. Radio today is a wasteland compared to what it was 20 short years ago. Even if you do manage to stumble across decent content, the quality is shot to hell. streamed and compressed within an inch of it's life. Radio was a huge influence for music. A few larger colleges still have decent sounding radio stations playing analog and digital sources (actual tape, CD or vinyl), with even a so so tuner you can hear it. Owning a decent tuner today is a waste, but I hold tight to my 10B, MR74 and MR78, among the finest tuners ever made, in case decent music comes back to FM. I used to keep my cassette deck on standby to catch songs from the beginning, making mix tapes as songs would climb the charts, or from Kasey Kasem's top 40 broadcasts.

Being an only child, I was fortunate when I was old enough (10) to ask for and receive a decent component stereo piece by piece holiday by holiday. My dad knew most of the  crews at the local hi fi shops and taking his time picked me up lightly used gear, including a Marantz 2270 receiver, Technics 1600 TT, ESS speakers and a Teac cassette deck. I was buying imported records with paper route and lawn cutting monies, paying 20$ each in the late 70's early 80's for Beatles, Stones, etc albums, when 20$ (with tax incl.) was a of of money. As I improved in paying guitar, got good grades and my own lawn and leaf service by age 12, I was able to replace and improve the gear in my kit, AND but a load of Maxell cassette, along with imported and domestic records to record and playback. 

Folks today are more engaged by the cell phone and the computer. IN my day , for a boy, it was music girls and the first car (not in that order) and by 16, you had a car you worked on, paid for, took care of, along with your music and your stereo. As I said I was lucky I had great influences, father and uncles who took me to concerts shows, band practice, I was encouraged to play an instrument, and enjoy it still, playing with others or the music I like. I had access to gear and the money to get my own system at a young age, the way kids get to shelf computers at an early age today. I had friends, that had decent stereos, as did their parents, of whom my best friends dad had all Mc components with Altec VOTT speakers in a 35' by 60', along with a home studio, instruments and more Mc gear which I with my friend his brothers played with or listened to. That is where and when I knew what my ultimate stereo would be built from,..using the best McIntosh gear I could possibly afford. By age 35 that dream came true. I have all that gear and more I've added to over the last 20 years.

However, if you have none of these types of experiences in your life music isn't going to mean a lot to you, other than in the car or on ear buds while surfing the net. I connected with  local dealers and one sales guy in particular, Elliot from Gramophone Ltd in Timonium Maryland. In 1989 I connected with Elliot and the owners of Gramophone, forging a lifelong relationship that I maintain to this day. Along the way I received a lot of inside information, decent sales discounts most folks don't get (up to 30% on new gear), not to mention heads up when dencent used gear was coming thru for a good price. Elliot has been a good friend, I've bought a lot of gear from him and thru Gramophone. Having a decent local dealer with a relationship/friendship was helpful, but not necessarily essential to my end goal; having the top quality system and components  I always wanted. That came about just as much  from a desire, determination and drive, working and saving and researching from a young age, having the goal. I knew what I wanted because I was exposed to it in a positive way from a young age. I hung out at the shop, asked questions, engaged, and wasn't treated like a young kid with no money to spend. I was treated like an adult and learned quite a bit growing up. Some dealers didn't like kids in the soundrooms, I was lucky my dad knew all 3 dealers I hung around and they knew my dad was serious and spent money, so I was treated well, even allowed to bring records there and play them when they were not busy. I listened to the records they payed as well, and learned about a lot of good music that way.

Because of music, my life today is the richer and better for it. I don't watch much TV, the time on the computer I spend is 90% about audio gear and music or researching about both Playing guitar, drums, keyboards are a hobby, I continue to buy vinyl, and never stopped to tell the truth. I still record, to cassette and open reel, which IMO is still the best sounding format out there period. When I record vinyl to tape, to me it sounds even better, even though it should be exactly the same at best. yea' its expensive, especially recording in 2 track at 7 1/2 ips, but I like the sound.  I'm only sorry that younger folks today are missing out on music and HI-Fi. I hope this changes, than vinyl becomes even more popular bringing popularity to quality turntables, speakers and other essential gear for those who want to hear it sound the same  "as it was payed live" when in the home.