Are older people not as trendy/scene as they were?

[davidboring]

I'm not sure how to put this , but, when I was a young teenager, I really looked up to people in their 20s. Like the record store, comic store, joss-stick store, arcade I used to go in, they were all staffed by cool people in their mid 20s who liked grunge and rock. I thought they were much cooler than me and couldn't wait to get older and be as cool as them. I was cool at 18 - 21 or so, But when I got to my mid 20s, I felt like coolness had passed me by. I still liked old grunge, but I wouldn't have listened to emo or whatever contemporary. I mean it's not just that I didn't like it, I found it impenetrable. I thought by then teenagers were cool and I was past being cool or being up to date on rock. Is it me,or was cool contemporary music aimed at an older fan base in the 90s. I felt then that 20s people were the coolest, and teenagers looked up to them, and cool teenagers were only cool by emulating older people. But now I feel like young people are seen as cool and people my age just jealous of them and old feeling. Is it a change in society (cool scene stuff being aimed at younger people) or just my imagination.

[subtitle31]

it still makes sense to answer.... you came up in a time that embraced the acquisition and monopolization of information this meant that you had to be "in the know" via store employees, trade mags, radio shows, etc. this also meant that if you DID make it to the coveted status of random industry employee, you learned about all sorts of rad stuff that by even knowing about it made you look, feel and act cool. it also helped that there were lots of cool things to obsess and ultimately turn into a fan-boy over.
once the internet really took hold, there wasn't a quality control mechanism in the form of a discerning individual by the cash register. the heroes of however many years ago either died, got rich or got a job. all the various entertainment industries went for the worst type of filler to purposely sell to kids and adults felt alienated due to not getting the memo about the paradigm shift. now that it's a information free for all, people "in the know" are the ones getting all of this stuff in their inbox every morning. while there is still entertainment marketed exclusively for kids (and someone turns 12, 13 and 14 everyday), there is still stuff for adults. I mean, kids nowadays define "cool" as "swag" anyway. to know that is to know that it is a new time. you just have to do like you did when you were young and dig for what you think is worthwhile.....

[Alex]

Not listening to emo makes you cool.

[The Black Guardian]

I don't think anything has changed.

Who are these cool teenagers you see? I don't think I've ever known of anyone under 20 who is truly cool.

[hugh45]

I think I know what y mean by the internet took hold. There's this female coworker @ 20-25 yrs. She plays Dungeons & Dragons,but at the same time she listen to Britney Spears/Justin Bieber :eek:

[Renaissance Man]

Kids aren't more or less "cool" than they were 5, 10, 25, or 50 years ago, really.

But I think I know at what you are getting (Isn't proper grammar clunky?). I'll limit my reply to the wackiness that is FM radio.

FM radio in the 1990's, especially rock stations, was still aimed at people in their 20's. Pop radio was, and still is, aimed at 14 year-old girls and brainless drones who enjoy cookie cutter music. MP3's had not fully emerged as the new way to enjoy music so FM radio's biggest enemy was satellite radio, which few people had because it was still a bit experimental and cost a nice chunk of change.

Then the Internet and MP3 sharing changed the music industry and American FM radio fought tooth and nail against an unstoppable force instead of jumping on the bandwagon to great success (visit the BBC's radio website and listen to Radio 1 or Radio 6 for a couple hours to hear what American radio should be - I warn you, however, you'll be quickly addicted.).

So, FM radio decided it could always fall back on its easiest target audience - young kids. So, most FM radio marketing is pushed toward the 18 and under crowd and even that is fading.

[davidboring]

Thanks everyone. I mean, it's not that I like emo or anything, I just think, like in the 90s the cool people, who ran alternative clothes stores and stuff, were all older. And now, if you walk through a city, the cool people with piercings etc are all younger and people by their 20s have grown out of it. We collected a friends sister from a rock/emo club and it was all 16-18 in there. I went to clubs playing grunge and nu-metal when I was 16, but I thought that the older people were more welcome. I'm sure cool music was more intellectual and slightly older aimed, I mean can you imagine a young emo kid listening to RATM, faith no more or Tool. I know they had a lot of young fans, but I'm sure music has got dumber. Eh, there was dumb music then like Skid Row or whatever, I'm sure there's deep rock out there now if you know where too look.

[Indigo Al]

You'll find also that when you get older, you'll give up your hard stances on musical tastes, dividing lines on genres, etc. etc. You'll appreciate the cheesy pop songs you once spat at, you won't worry about loudly dissing the bands you don't like, you'll enjoy a broader range of music. At least I am.

[hugh45]

You'll find also that when you get older, you'll give up your hard stances on musical tastes, dividing lines on genres, etc. etc. You'll appreciate the cheesy pop songs you once spat at, you won't worry about loudly dissing the bands you don't like, you'll enjoy a broader range of music. At least I am.

But please tell y don't listen to Justin Bieber/Brit Spears or etc. PLEASE :frown:

[J. Robb]

Working in arcades, record and comic stores may seem cool when you're younger, but once you're an adult you realize they're pretty terrible jobs.

[Indigo Al]

But please tell y don't listen to Justin Bieber/Brit Spears or etc. PLEASE :frown:

I'm happy to report that, apart from the Prince-sih vibe/beat that drew me to Britney's "I'm A Slave 4 You" for a spell, I regularly listen to neither.

But I'm also NOT going to froth at the mouth at their fandom. Everyone falls in love with sugary ear candy pop music at the earliest. Some people might have you believe that they came out of the womb listening to the Velvet Underground, but they're full of it.

[Spike-X]

Laffin' at the idea of anyone under thirty being considered 'older people'.

[hugh45]

I'm happy to report that, apart from the Prince-sih vibe/beat that drew me to Britney's "I'm A Slave 4 You" for a spell, I regularly listen to neither.

But I'm also NOT going to froth at the mouth at their fandom. Everyone falls in love with sugary ear candy pop music at the earliest. Some people might have you believe that they came out of the womb listening to the Velvet Underground, but they're full of it.

Well,I came close. I came out my mother's womb listening B.B. King,James Brown and host great black artist in the 60's. Mostly the blues though,because I would see my father coming home drunk and putting on B.B. King song before he would pass out.

[rick]

Working in arcades, record and comic stores may seem cool when you're younger, but once you're an adult you realize they're pretty terrible jobs.

I don't know about that.

I had a ball back in my comic store and record shop days, they just never paid very well.

But as jobs themselves, they were pretty enjoyable.