Another Reason 'Y'

Country radio's share trend over the past several years indicates that the format hasn't done a very effective job of introducing itself to 'Generation Y.' The lessons learned from that fact may be applicable to all formats.

Yes, just about the time you've become comfortable with 'Gen X,' here comes another generational cohort. And, they're not behaving like their older brothers and sisters. Premiere Radio Networks' Bill Richards says it seems they behave like the 'Stepford' kids.

They buy pop records by Hanson, Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls. They watch 1990's B-movie remakes like Starship Troopers or I Know What You Did Last Summer. They're also buying those electronic pets called 'Tamagotchis' because these are the kids who grew up on Power Rangers.

Generation Y is the group defined as those born after 1976. In seven years, when the oldest of Gen Y will be 32, they and all others younger than them will constitute 41.4% of the population -- far surpassing the aging boomers.

The "Y" Pie

Thus: if you hope to do well over the next several decades, you better start to bond with them. Even now they are nudging the boomers in numbers. And, in 2008, the once much-discussed Generation X sandwiched between the mighty boomers and Generation Y will occupy only a skinny slice of the population pie.

Gen Y facts: in just a couple years, they will be out of college. As buyers, they are highly optimistic. They were raised during the rising of the Dow. The economy was good. We were not at war. They have little political agenda and have created a pop culture lite -- a demand for less.

They are the first generation to be relentlessly targeted since conception with Ninja Turtles and Disney spin offs. Many were born around the time Star Wars invented the doll of the film. They have the ironic self-awareness of Gen X but they just see it as a fresh way to make themselves happy.

These kids are the children of the boom babies of the 60's. This has produced record levels of school enrollment, breaking standards set in 1972. In 1998, over 50 million are in high school. High schools and junior highs are overflowing with cheerful, smiley kids listening to shiny, happy bands and facing the future with a relentless, if slightly knowing and ironic, optimism.

Put the "Y" into Country

If past is any clue to the future, the young women among this group will increasingly turn onto Country music in the next one or two years and the young men who are in relationships with them will follow suit in the a couple years after that.

For that to happen, Country will need to -- as it always has over the last five generations -- reinvent itself to become relatable to them.

Gen Y is multi-cultural. They exchange cultures like they change wardrobes. They are highly experimental, and many of them now occasionally check out Country music, having no negative stereotypes of the past against it. They incorporate many cultures into their lifestyles. They talk about health and wellness but they are also into drugs and clubs. Paradox is normal. They are entrepreneurial.

Christine Boar, VP/Programming of MTV UK: "The grunge, rocky, grainy element of MTV is long over. Young people nowadays are aspirational. They want designer clothes and computers and want to own their own things. That 'something' that comes from pop music and pop culture. The whole Nirvana thing is a bit of a cliche these days. There is a real feel-good air about music and about people."

Here Comes Gen "W"

This is one of the reasons why CHR has made a comeback over the last five years. Hip-hop seemed to be the glue that held it all together. It may also be why Top 40 is approaching difficult times as the music becomes harder-edged and more extreme right now.

The movement that came after the slackers is a bit smarter. They get their information from business publications, entertainment media, niche magazines and the Internet. Gen Y members prefer to discover things rather than learn about them directly. And, part of the discovery process has to do with using all five senses.

The new generation of teens has no illusions and therefore is unlikely to feel disenchantment. Today's up and coming kids feel that they CAN bring about change.

And, about the time we welcome them into the 25 - 54 target demo, it will be time to get to know their younger siblings, Generation "W" (for WIRED). That's today's TEEN audience.

But, that's a problem for another article and another generational cohort we adult formats have a decade to learn to understand before THEY start to impact us.