Rebels Never Die
Gen Z fans are embracing vinyl to combat "streaming fatigue" and gain back control of their music choices
Picture yourself as a teenager. Feel the air around you like you did back then.
Younger readers should have a fairly short ride. Older generations those born earlier will need a bit longer, sure, but time works in mysterious ways: your memories might actually be less muddy, with the benefit of hindsight that makes everything clearer.
Now think back to a specific moment you really wanted something but a grown-up thought otherwise:
That’s not good for you.
Calm down.
Trust me — I know better.
What’s your immediate reaction? Mine starts with the letter F.
Your specific generation, culture, and character disposition will dictate how loudly you may have uttered your own profanities of choice, or whether they actually left your mouth at all, but my point is you felt them.
It so happens that teenagers don’t like being told what to do, and this is as true today as it has been since time immemorial.
Many Gen Z fans, tired of being dictated around by their phones, are turning to vinyl to combat a new ailment: streaming fatigue.
What exhausts them, they claim, is the increasing automation in the listening experience, particularly the choices being presented to them.
As someone who grew up in a developing country, you will forgive me if I remind them that almost 3 billion people in the world don’t have internet access.
I sympathise with the underlying message—what irritates me is the attitude. This hypersensitivity to pretty much every single discomfort in life, with new medical terms being coined every day to support or justify the so-called “victimhood culture”.
Rant aside, what’s interesting about this resurgence of vinyl records among zoomers is that it reinforces points I keep coming back to: intentionality and autonomy of choice.
For decades, the traditional pattern in record collecting has consisted in formats replacing each other due to convenience and portability. Discs became mini and compact until they faded into invisibility.
Clearly this trend is unstoppable, vinyl revival and all, with streaming volumes reaching new highs in 2023.
Your phone is your camera, your map, your TV, your computer and, naturally, your stereo.
The next logical step was automating the choice. But it so happens that, when the choosing is being done for you, when the discovery of music and records is outsourced to some obscure algorithm, young people are increasingly having none of it.
They are embracing vinyl, the oldest format available —and arguably the last bastion of consumer products designed for simpler times— as a statement of independence.
They are gaining back control of their choices and reclaiming ownership, not just of the audio material, but the listening experience itself.
Teenagers nowadays are a lot more polished and articulate—I’ll give them that.
Interestingly, though, some things never change. At the end of the day, fatigue also starts with an F.
Thanks for reading/listening. Happy spinning!
Excellent points, both in your essay and in the comments. I think the tactile nature of vinyl also is overlooked. Streaming feeds us music out of context; when you have the vinyl (or even, gulp, the CD), you know exactly what you're listening to.
Great POV, Andy....but, along with the proposed streaming fatigue that might be surging the new generation's love and acceptance of vinyl....I was thinking: To many teens/young people, could streaming simply be a new acceptable way to lazily be fed songs "like" the ones they've already chosen, and have no issue with Spotify (or whomever) choosing what next they'd listen to?
Are many young 'uns more than happy to let the algo do the work of choosing listening options (because it's "too much work for me to do it!"), and collecting vinyl (as I've heard recently) just a status symbol exercise and/or something to look at/enjoy the feel of as they listen to their stream of choice?
I'd be interested, also, to hear what others think....I sense this could be a worthwhile debate, although I admit so much of the listening habits of "the kids these days" is a little (a lot?) out of my bailiwick!