Nazarian Films is launching an initiative to attract younger generations to the audiophile hobby by leveraging their love for headphones and gaming. The move aims to address the demographic challenges faced by the traditionally older, male-dominated community of audiophiles. By tapping into the tech-savvy habits of Millennials and Gen Z, who already invest heavily in high-performance gaming and digital music, Nazarian Films hopes to bridge the gap between youth culture and high-end audio equipment.
Lovers of audio or stereo equipment are known as audiophiles. To be polite, they are a quirky group who loves themselves some Steely Dan Aja and often will wear a Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon T-shirt so long that it falls to pieces after its 1,000th washing. Audiophiles also face a tough demographic problem, as the hobby is almost exclusively male, and dominated by Baby Boomers. Many audiophile men in their 70s and 80s don't often need to invest another $20,000 in a pair of speakers without serious risk of damage to their retirement fund and/or a possible high net worth divorce. Neither would be acceptable outcomes in most audiophile homes.
Younger generations such as Millennials, Generation Z and even Generation Alpha all have grown up in a world with nearly unlimited access to music at close to none or very little cost. While collecting vinyl became trendy during the COVID pandemic, most younger listeners use digital streaming sources for music as their primary audiophile source. These younger, more diverse generational listeners love music as much (if not more) than those that came before them, even if a record store is as compelling to them as a payphone.
Right now, the audiophile hobby is struggling mightily to add youth and diversity to its roster of audio-stereo enthusiasts, but the challenge isn't insurmountable.
Audiophile Headphones to the Rescue
The first category that is adjacent to a traditional stereo system is audiophile headphones. For about $399 (think: a very nice Christmas present), one can procure a pair of very high -performance, wireless and often exotic headphones. Without blowing up the money made from one's employmentsituation, one can expect to be making pretty impressive sound for about the price of a pair of good concert tickets (perhaps less after all of the fees on modern concert tickets). These headphones can connect to smart phones, laptops, tablets, video monitors, and gaming systems, as well as a modern stereo system. Many of today's best and quite affordable audiophile turntables today allow connectivity via Bluetooth, which only makes wireless headphones even more appealing as a starting point for aspiring, young audiophiles.
Gamers Understand the Value of the Nth Degree of Performance When It Comes Tto Technology
Young video gamers often spend a lot of money as they get more and more involved with their booming hobby. It isn't uncommon to see a professional gamer purchase a $300 carbon fiber gaming mouse with little to no click latency. Many game titles reward users for having a high refresh rate, with 4K resolution video monitor. Hundreds of dollars more can be invested in a keyboard with fiber optic connections that are faster and more responsive than a traditional keyboard. And none of these expenditures include the gaming PC (or Mac) itself, which often includes blazing fast processors, as well as boat loads of RAM and much more that impact the overall speed of said machines.
Where else do we see enthusiasts spend wildly chasing after a technological benefit that might seem small to the non-enthusiast? That would be the audiophile hobby…
What is the Audiophile Hobby Doing Tto Woo New, More Diverse and Younger Enthusiasts?
Sadly, the audiophile establishment media (think: print, of course) doesn't seem to concerned with the hobby's demographic issues. The COVID pandemic allowed a last-chance opportunity for stereo stores to sell new, often very expensive audiophile electronics to the hobby's aging, core audience, and sales spiked as people were spending on luxury goods for the home more than, say, on travel, concerts or sporting events in that era. With the pandemic now being more of an endemic now, those sales opportunities are likely gone,in many ways forever.
Audiophile retailers are also a key part of the business problem in that, beyond a big-box store like Best Buy, few (if any) speciallty audio-video retailers invest in showing what is possible in the world of video gaming when gaming does more business than Hollywood movies or all of recorded music. The next generation of young, tech -savvy consumers is spending wildly, but just not on traditional audiophile equipment as much as they are pumping their last penny into ultra-high -performance gaming systems.
What Are Some of the Pending Opportunities in the Audiophile Market, Today?
A savvy investor who wanted to buy a traditional, brick and mortar audiophile store might be shocked at how many regional dealers are willing to sell their businesses. They might be more shocked to see how little the overall cost of buying such a business might be. These businesses sell products with 40-, 50- and often higher -percent profit margins, thus can be very profitable. There are many audiophile retailers looking for that right person to sell to right this minute. Some of these dealers are making record profits, which should run up the multiples on the businesses, but the number of older sellers makes the asking price for these fun-to-run, hobby- driven businesses notably approachable in terms of price.
Someone who can see how to reach the next generation of audiophile customers could really strike gold by bringing an aged, legacy, traditional retailer into the modern era. The profit margins are there. For younger people seeking an experience, even a modest stereo system today is as much a time machine as it is an experience machine. Would it be smarter to invest $5,000 on physical, stereo equipment, or travel for a weekend music festival such as Coachella or Bonaroo? Depending on how one values photos on their Instagram account, the stereo system provides a musical event all- day, every- day, and could be sold off for upgrades or just to raise cash in a pinch.
There is a potential pot of gold at the end of this musical and technological rainbow for someone who can see the market opportunity in a well-established, often high- margin business that is actually fun to operate.
CONTACT:
Company Name: Nazarian Films
Contact Person: Eliott Nazarian
Los Angeles
California
SOURCE: Nazarian Films
