Millennials? What about them?
A lot has been said about misconceptions concerning millennials. They are variously described as the laziest and most entitled and most fragile generation. Perhaps the most prevailing misconception is that each generation is all alike. Nevertheless, there are some commonalities and information about millennials that are true!
Millennials, generally categorized as people born between 1980 and 2000, are the largest generation of people yet. Millennials make up 31.5% of the global population and are the largest demographic proportion of the largest world economies. Millennials now also make up the majority of the workforce, and they will be 50% of the workforce by 2020. Millennials are fast becoming the majority consumers in the world. Clearly, understanding them, with their significant defining cultural traits and values, is very important for society and business.
Here are some statistics for millennials:
source: http://whymillennialsmatter.com/
We know that they have a strong understanding of self, expression and morality; and are comparatively more focused on connecting and engaging with those who share their personal and ethical values – be it people, brands or celebrities. It’s no surprise that the social media generation desires authentic connections. Here’s another quick round up of statistics demonstrating millennials which shows what they look for in events and experiences:
Statistics about millennials and music
Millennials connecting through music?
We know millennials derive pleasure from engaging with like-minded people. We know they derive more value from experiences than objects. But what are these experiences? What is the means through which they achieve this? The answer is simple and unsurprising. Music.
Music has been observed to be a connective thread with millennials – connections with the events and connections amongst each other within events – especially those events and people that share their values. Through music, they communicate and express themselves with others. Social media and online platforms such as Soundcloud give millennials the ability to share their music and connect and communicate with their supporters and other musicians – regardless of geographical proximity and how famous someone is or isn’t. In school structures, through choirs and bands students begin to exercise these skills and creatively work with their expressions. The Loud N’ Raw bi-annual music show is put forth by a local university band – Shaw band from the Chinese University of Hong Kong strongly focuses on this self expression and supports local bands and students in their musical emotions and passions. This art form expresses their values, from personal to political.
Music for change
Music is a force to catalyse change in our society. It always has been. Numerous artists hold concerts to raise awareness and garner support for everything from health issues, political movements, to respect and remembrance events. 20% of millennial participated in live music events that supported a charitable cause or organisation. In Hong Kong. the HK Federation of Youth groups holds an A-Capella musical dinner every year to raise awareness and funds for charitable causes. This year, they’re supporting youth in crisis by providing services which will emotionally and mentally support and assist tertiary students in Hong Kong. The funds from the musical event itself will specifically go towards and educational music programme catered for the under-privileged children of Hong Kong. A variety of international groups formed of or founded by college students – Cluster, Upper Structure, Vox – will be vocally showcasing their styles ranging from pop and jazz fusion to modern and edgy perspectives.
Are millennial indie, funk, folk or what?
So we know millennials purely enjoy music, but what kind of music are they into? Lets stray away from the classic ideas or understanding of favoured music genres because the genres millennials are attracted differ greatly from their predecessors. Pop, alternative rock and hard rock now take the spotlight with pop and alternative rock being favoured by females and hard rock being favoured by males. In Hong Kong, TTN (This Town Needs) – previously called Hidden Agenda – fight to provide, and do provide Hong Kong’s artists with the space to vocalise their musical styles and expressions. TTN has hosted numerous bands and artists hailing from genres such as indie rock and hard rock.
The emergence of such musical areas in Hong Kong allow for millennials to engage with their musical interests and people of similar motivations in person. Locally and internationally, this generation is moving forwards in achieving their societal and personal dreams. They are partaking in musical events to both support these movements and to also take a break from the usual daily life. Juven hosts musical events and entities from a large pool of different identities – browse through this large variety and you’ll surely find something to give you a break from the daily grind.
