YouTube Indicates What the Future is For Audiophiles - Interesting Demographics.
Howdy,
I just wanted to share some data from YouTube as I found it quite eye-opening and thought some of you might too.
I've posted a couple vids on YouTube recently and, as some will know, YouTube provides analytics data with every video, which is available to the channel owner.
The first video featured a Krell KSA 80 amp and at the time of writing this there have been 9,500 views:
Female - 0%
Male - 100%
13–17 years 0%
18–24 years 0%
25–34 years 0%
35–44 years 0.9%
45–54 years 13.5%
55–64 years 44.4%
65+ years 41.3%
So, 100% male, and pretty much all of the traffic is from guys 45 years old and above, with 40%+ from guys over 65!!
The second video was a spoof (song) on Audiophiles that was shared a lot and watched by a lot of audiophile spouse, so the stats were slightly different, but not much. At the time of writing, 18,150 views:
Female 2.4%
Male 97.6%
13–17 years 0%
18–24 years 0%
25–34 years 0%
35–44 years 5.9%
45–54 years 18.6%
55–64 years 35.5%
65+ years 40.1%
The video was watched by a few females because it was shared and hit with a slightly younger audience but not by much. For all intents and purposes, the stats are the same for both vids.
Caveat - YouTube tends to attract an older audience and it's tipped up towards males. TikTok would show different results, but I think YouTube is really the platform of choice for most of us, so the data is more pertinent.
Conclusion - we're a dying breed. 40% of us will be dead in a few years and there's not many 'yoots' coming through to replace us.
No real surprise here but we're all blokes - old, fat, sweaty, bearded, and about to kick the proverbial bucket. (Yes, I'm speaking entirely for myself).
Do you think there's more that manufacturers, dealers, reviewers etc. should be doing, or is it just the inevitable playing out?
Thoughts?
Here's the link to the two vids for reference:
Krell KSA80
The Audiophile Song
@cdc I think cheapaudioman’s demographic would look quite different. He focuses more on lower priced mass-produced consumer electronics and I’d suspect his audience would be younger, though still largely male. Jay Iagi too would likely have a younger audience. Cheers |
He offers information about new ChiFi gear and some other things. The people watching his channel are already interested in the hobby but they are looking for affordable options. Sure, some of them will upgrade to gear above what he typically reviews, and that is fine. But those numbers will be small. There isn't really the wave of interest today the same as what happened in the late 60s and 70s with the influx of affordable high-quality Japanese electronics. That is structural--rising standards of living and wages in producing countries--and technological, interest diverted to portable streaming products that don't necessarily result into pursuing HiFi audio as a hobby. |
Jay Iyagi addresses a very specific audience, younger people already into hifi with a fair amount of money to spend on audio. His reference gear is esoteric and expensive. It would even be difficult to find a dealer who carried the things he reviews (Serbian-made SET monoblock tube amps using very rare and high-powered tubes, etc.) He speaks to a dedicated collector audience; he isn't directed at new users at all. |
I think the good stuff will continue to be made for at least another fifty years at which point something completely foreign to us will technologically appear same with flat screen TVs, laser holography anyone? Yes, there will "nearly" always be tinkerers and collectors of the older good stuff. I believe the dearth of welcoming high-end audio brick and mortar audio stores only adds to the nonengagement of younger persons. How many of us curiously found our way into one and was knocked out by what we heard? That's how I started at fourteen. More than five decades later still going. Regards, barts
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