Reply To: Birth years?
I noticed an apparent clustering of fan ages a while back: a bunch of fans who are roughly JoCo’s age, and a bunch of fans who are roughly half that, with a smattering falling outside those two major groups. This poll seems to have supported my hypothesis. The big question is why this is the case.
I think there are two fairly distinct groups of popular JoCo songs: those that appeal chiefly (but not exclusively) to a younger (roughly college-age), actively dating audience (all the songs of breakup and unrequited love), and those that appeal to parents (songs of babies, strollers, plush animals, and children’s television programs). There are a few fairly specific generational references (most notably “The Town Crotch”) that might explain the extra appeal to his cohort, but there really aren’t that many songs with narrow generational appeal. Older fans and gap fans (younger than his cohort, older than the college-age fans) may still be interested, but perhaps not in such great numbers as the others.
JoCo’s cohort can perhaps best relate to everything he’s written, since they’ve gone through all of it, and they’ll best appreciate his cultural references. I expect the cohort bump to persist. College-age fans are, I think, most receptive to new music (not quite as set in their listening habits as some of us), and I think he’ll continue to gain younger fans; as the current college-age fans get more set in their ways, they’ll probably continue to listen to him. I’d expect the gap in the middle to blur a bit as the younger peak broadens.
Am I being too analytical here? Anyone care to comment on how this does or doesn’t describe their fandom?