Or maybe it's not that the marketing is too passive, the recordings are bad, the gear is too expensive, the youth have no taste or have just not heard good sound. It's certainly not that they listen to less music or even worse music. There is a whole world of great alternative country, folk, Americana, etc. out there with a strong youth audience, and a lot of it, while a bit loud, is very well recorded.
Maybe they just don't hear it; maybe they think Mumford & Sons and The Civil Wars and The Decemberists sound great out of their iPods into a good pair of IEMs. Would they like it better through a $100k system? Maybe. But a killer, ungodly good, TOTL, SOTA pair of IEMS is, like, a grand. And yes, it is a very different listening experience, but they sound damn good. Even $10k worth of "high end" is a really tough sell to an audience with that listening experience.
Tim
I think we have to incorporate video. A first class surround sound system will sell. It's just no reason to sit in the dark with your eyes closed anymore.
I've had a few young 'uns come through and get mind fu*****. I think anybody will recognize and appreciate good sound when they hear it. We're biologically prewired for it.
What I haven't seen is the young 'uns actually sit down and just listen for more than a few minites until the phones come out. Tweet, I'm at Uncle Jacks and Wow! Put that thing down boy!
I swear, it's like they have to text, tweet or do whatever with their devices 24/7. Techno A-D-D, I call it. I've seen good looking couples on dates not talking but rather using their smartphones. Probably reporting on their date real time. How would one market to this new culture? If I knew I bet I could make a bundle. Maybe even afford 200k speakers with zero guilt. LOL.
In the 70s and 80s, a reasonably nice audio system was a symbol of your good taste, not your wealth. Frankly, I would regard most of the stuff I saw at a recent 'high end' show as an embarrassment in my house.
I was at a show recently, where the talent i went to hear was old school- Terry Reid- but his backup band was a local band with a young following that I never would have gone to hear otherwise. The audience was largely made up of the band's fans, and they were all glued to their handheld devices throughout the live show. Seemed pretty clueless to me, but it's probably just a generational culture thing. Same reason I don't drive and talk on a handheld phone. When I'm driving, I focus on the drive. But try to tell that to everyone else on the road doing otherwise.I've had a few young 'uns come through and get mind fu*****. I think anybody will recognize and appreciate good sound when they hear it. We're biologically prewired for it.
What I haven't seen is the young 'uns actually sit down and just listen for more than a few minites until the phones come out. Tweet, I'm at Uncle Jacks and Wow! Put that thing down boy!
I swear, it's like they have to text, tweet or do whatever with their devices 24/7. Techno A-D-D, I call it. I've seen good looking couples on dates not talking but rather using their smartphones. Probably reporting on their date real time. How would one market to this new culture? If I knew I bet I could make a bundle. Maybe even afford 200k speakers with zero guilt. LOL.
The kids nowadays have no attention span. Why would they ever want a high-end system?
I think we have to incorporate video. A first class surround sound system will sell. It's just no reason to sit in the dark with your eyes closed anymore.
I think we have to incorporate video. A first class surround sound system will sell. It's just no reason to sit in the dark with your eyes closed anymore.
That's actually what I like to do best. Doors closed, telephone ringers off, answering machines on.
There's the earning curve too. Unless they are banksters, or have family wealth, they aren't going to have money for expensive gear until they are at that point, or, given the economy here in the NE US, until even later in life. I know law school grads that are living at home with parents, sans real jobs. Not an auspicious start.Maybe the target market should be people in the late twenties and early thirties.
That's a good point, Jack. Only question is will high-end still be around when that time comes? Without the likelihood of being exposed to what a high-end system can do in their late twenties or thirties, I don't see this as probable.Maybe when the 20 somethings get to experience the real stress that comes with the real bucks, they'll appreciate the need to slow down and decompress. Especially when they get to the point where a trip to the bar or club becomes harder on the body. With visual entertainment (movies, tv and gaming) I feel dumbed down unlike music which both relaxes and reinvigorates at the same time.
Maybe the target market should be people in the late twenties and early thirties.
I've never had a HT system and probably never will. Car chases and gun shots are a waste of fidelity, IMO.
Tim