The Online Habits Of Teens

The last thing you want to do if you're a songwriter or band is to try to write something specifically for a particular demographic. Unless you're true to yourself, your art will always suffer. As I've said in many of my books:

Art is something you do for yourself. A craft is something you do for everyone else.

Still, knowing more about a particular demo can at least explain why something is selling or not. That's why the new study of 1000 boys and girls age 13 to 19 by Buzz Marketing is so fascinating. The data tells you a lot about how teens think in 2010. Some interesting points:

• When a new song debuts, most kids download the song on iTunes or listen to it on MySpace or Pandora.

• 74% of teens say they don't download music illegally.

• When asked 'Would you buy an iPad?" 64% of teens said no.

• Boys prefer blogs (63%), while girls prefer magazines (55%).

• 13 year olds still hear new music first on the radio, not on the Internet or from TV videos.

• Since 2008, popularity in hip-hop and R&B music has declined, while rock is getting a boost.

• 85% of teens said they cut down spending during the recession, but clothing and dining out were among the top cuts. Buying music is 6th on the list of spending cuts.

• 55% prefer albums to singles

• Facebook is the most visited site, followed by Google, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter and Flckr. In fact, 83% prefer Facebook to MySpace.

Kinda destroys some long-held beliefs about how teens consume media, doesn't it? Go to the Business Insider site to read the entire report.

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