Worried About Fewer Young People in our Hobby?

[emgcr]

I think in view of the ever-increasing diversity of knowledge in general and the myriad of competing interests it is inevitable that focus on our (or any) hobby will continue to come under pressure. There are only so many hours in the day and it is, after all, a totally fascinating world out there.

I have been very pleasantly surprised at the interest shown by quite a few young people. A couple in their early twenties recently became my neighbours and I was fascinated to see a shellac copy of Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle rose" playing on an early turntable. I was privileged to be able to further their interest with more records and machines but the initial spark came from themselves taking an intelligent and absorbing interest in quality sound reproduction derived from well-built artefacts. Others have (re)discovered machines and record collections in (grand)parents lofts and ignited serious enthusiasm.

It seems to me that it is up to us to facilitate and propagate the vital spark to awaken the interest. The propensity of some of the current technology to proliferate digital sound in spurious and unsatisfying ways can only work to our advantage.

[AmberolaAndy]

Hey! I’m 28 and I’m always talking about antique phonos. No need to worry about us millennials!

[VanEpsFan1914]

20 years old and have to duck under the Victor horn when I get out of bed in the morning!

[52089]

About 3 weeks ago I sold a Victrola locally to someone who was giving it to her 13-year-old daughter as a Christmas present. Apparently the daughter had been asking for one for some time.

Hope is not lost!

[gramophone-georg]

[Garret]

I think we needn't worry. Personally, I welcome a decline in interest to an extent, as it can lower prices and thus make the hobby more accessible.

[Wolfe]

As one of those no-good, pesky Millennial brats I have to chime in and say that this hobby is NOT dead among "the yute" - those of us who can afford to indulge in buying antique phonographs and records are enjoying a good market where collectors of our parents' age and older are looking to downsize their collections and are usually eager to give them to us cheap. That is, of course, provided they were not viewed as investment vehicles by those same collectors (jukebox collectors, anyone?)

In addition, the ease of finding old-timey recordings on the YouTubes and the like have led to a resurgence of interest in this hobby, as people can now become exposed to a huge chunk of recordings from the 1920s onward via digital music uploads and streaming services. This has been a huge factor, since few people have access to a 78 rpm turntable but they can still hear the music originally recorded on them. I do not know if this would encourage an avid listener of such recordings to actually go out and buy a wind up phonograph with records, but it is certainly better than nothing!

There's a hipster-ish used record store in my town that until recently msde a little space among the vinyl and CD's to sell some 78's. But now they announce on their website that they will not buy 78's anymore. If they won't buy them, they probably will not be selling them.

You Tube and streaming all the same, I don't really see that much interest festering in the young folk of today over century old music, let alone going to set up real collections of records and phonographs.

The younger set these days do seem to show a bit of a renewed appreciation for music from, say, the 1950's or 1960's (the early hi-fi and stereo era and early rock, like Elvis) due to it's accessibility via streaming, etc. A lot of that stuff doesn't exist or is hard to obtain on 78.

[maginter]

This was a great event! I was glad that I got the opportunity to participate. Being an Engineer by discipline, it was fun spending time with the Engineering students an explaining the methodology of the motor design and what the modern equivalent would be. It was really neat to see the faces light up when they got it.

My only disappointment was on all the interviews, I spent a good bit of time discussing APS, who we are and what we do. None of it made it into the footage. I'll try again next year!

Happy New Year everyone!

Mark

[zenith82]

Glad to hear of more younger folks taking interest.

A lot of today's 25 and under crowd have never been exposed to a phonograph in any form and have no idea that they even exist. I believe that some will naturally take interest provided they get the exposure.

For that matter, most older adults don't care about phonographs or any other hobby!

[Mlund2020]

I purchased this toy Edison style phonograph (which allows you to record onto the wax surface of an ordinary candle) as a Christmas present for my niece who expressed an interest in phonographs after seeing my collection. While they are produced in and ship from Japan, they are widely available on eBay at reasonable prices and seem to be an excellent way to expose young people to the recording wonders of the phonograph that hooked many of us into the hobby. I know it was a big hit with my niece.