Thursday, October 26, 2017

Old/Young | Lefsetz Letter


OLD

Believes in the album.

YOUNG

Believes in the single. It’s all about the track, if you like something you go deeper, it’s about a body of work, click on an act in Spotify and you find what’s most popular and you check that out, assuming you care, and many people don’t, especially in hip-hop, the song is part of the culture, the same way British Invasion singles were part of the culture.

OLD

Believes in CDs.

YOUNG

Doesn’t have a CD player. They don’t come in cars, assuming you’ve got one, as millennials move to the city and Uber, and new computers don’t come with them, if you’re still sending someone promotional CDs it’s a reflection upon you, they’re worthless.

OLD

Passive.

YOUNG

Active. Sure, a millennial might put an online radio station, albeit generated by Pandora or Spotify, on in the background, but more likely they’ll be streaming a playlist, in the background, they don’t play terrestrial radio, the commercials are abhorrent and you can’t skip ahead, millennials see the web as their oyster, they’ll click and go from one site or track to another.

OLD

Will listen to the radio.

YOUNG

Won’t. It’s part of the on demand culture. The youngster doesn’t want to wait, that’s an experience that’s dead. Kinda like how cars replaced trains. With a car you could go where you wanted to go whenever you wanted to.

OLD

Buys files.

YOUNG

Sees everything as on demand, you don’t need to own anything, not a car, a movie, a song…

OLD

Laments the passing of the golden age.

YOUNG

Thinks the present is bright and the future is brighter.

OLD

Cares about “Billboard” charts.

YOUNG

Only cares about unweighted charts based on raw statistics. I.e. Spotify streaming. Unfortunately, Apple Music doesn’t reveal its statistics, to its detriment.

OLD

Worried about YouTube.

YOUNG

Will use YouTube when it wants to watch a video, but only the brokest of the broke use it as an everyday music service. YouTube for music is dialup, Spotify/Apple/Amazon is broadband

OLD

Laments the passing of music on MTV.

YOUNG

Never thought that MTV was a music outlet, always saw it as a host for lame reality shows.

OLD

Stuck in the past.

YOUNG

Pioneering the future. The young have no problem switching allegiance from Facebook to Snapchat to Instagram while oldsters are set in their ways and have a hard time chucking aside the past to live in the present.

OLD

Thinks a band is a credible, self-contained entity speaking truth.

YOUNG

Thinks a band is a brand, whored out to corporations, establishing enterprises/brand extensions that will rain down coin. Music is just a platform to make money via your fame.

OLD

Bitch about the price of concert tickets.

YOUNG

Save up money and overpay for what they want to do, they know it’s a mercenary culture, and if they want to attend, they pony up.

OLD

Sees a major label record deal as the holy grail.

YOUNG

Is aware of Chance the Rapper, and is reluctant to share revenue with a parasitic corporation when they can use the online tools to break themselves.

OLD

Expects acts to last.

YOUNG

Knows acts are evanescent.

OLD

Is all about culture.

YOUNG

Is all about culture, that’s what hip-hop provides and other genres do not.

OLD

Stuck in their ways.

YOUNG

Will try new things.

OLD

Believe physical assets are a badge of honor.

YOUNG

Believe experiences are a badge of honor, where you’ve been is more important than what you own.

OLD

Is willing to be spoon-fed.

YOUNG

Wants it all now. The concept that radio goes on tracks months after they’re a hit online is anathema.

OLD

Is prejudiced.

YOUNG

Has grown up with a rainbow of colors and accepts all kinds.

OLD

Fighting for women’s rights.

YOUNG

Believes the women’s movement is akin to the right to vote, way in the past, today’s young women feel empowered, they don’t feel taken advantage of (of course this is a mind-set and not always true but the point is young women were brought up believing they could be all that they could be, so when they hit a wall/are abused by men, they react heavily, kinda like Susan Fowler, who stood up to the bro culture at Uber.)

OLD

Thinks the pace of change is glacial, and will never come.

YOUNG

Have lived through the legalization of marijuana and gay marriage and believe change is right around the corner.

OLD

Worries about sound quality.

YOUNG

Sound quality, what’s that?

OLD

Believe in mystery and inaccessibility.

YOUNG

Believe famous people are open books who are accessible.

OLD

Want to be sitcom stars.

YOUNG

Want to be YouTube stars.

OLD

Stayed at home and practiced.

YOUNG

Practice in public, whilst boosting their brand online.

OLD

Grew up believing money was evil.

YOUNG

Think money is great!

OLD

Laments income inequality.

YOUNG

Knows the score and knows that he not busy getting ahead is falling behind.

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