Financial services company Cowen’s conducted the research, which found that 46% of American people surveyed in the age bracket of 18-24 had paid for music in the past month. This dropped to 39% for the 35-44 age bracket, and then remarkably down to 28% for those between ages 45-54, and 12% for those above 65.
The seemingly unstoppable move to streaming services as the dominant form of music consumption has no doubt had an impact on these figures. Many young people bypass the free versions of Spotify and Apple Music to pay for the premium subscription, so they are not necessarily buying more music, but they are paying to listen to it at least.
It remains to be seen if and how streaming services will impact upon the older audiences, but the results of this research show that us young people are not quite the seafaring marauders that we are often painted as.