How are your kids listening to music?

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Traditional_Entry183@reddit

My 14 year old thinks that CDs are cool in the way that some people my age thought that records were. She has a player that she uses in her room.

But overwhelmingly, my whole family uses YouTube Music on our phones.

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We have this digital wall calendar thing that's Android so they listen to Spotify on that, or this old ass tablet we have still kicking. My oldest also has a boombox cd player thing. I'm never getting them phones so they can't really listen outside the house which sucks. They haven't asked about that yet so haven't needed a solution.

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HearingDue2119@reddit

I’m a lifelong collector of music. My kids have zero interest in physical media and stream. And that’s just fine.

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b1rdwatch3r@reddit

My daughter just asked for a TV for her room for her 15th birthday. I asked what she's been watching on it and she said, "Nothing, I just use it for Spotify." 😂 Nothing like TV speakers for a quality audio experience.

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

Relatable.

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jessm307@reddit (OP)

That’s tragic! Lol

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

They are starting to listen to the sounds of Geometry Dash (a phone based game with dubstep) on YouTube. In the car, they evolved from what I exposed them to (metal, hard rock, proper alternative) to emo, now to Christian Contemporary. Oof. 😅

But in the end if you're a good person I'm going to let you be yourself and find your own identity.

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elsie78@reddit

YouTube on his phone.

I listen to radio and XM

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teacher_of_twelves@reddit

My 20 year old has a vinyl collection, a 100 disc CD changer, a few guitars, and Apple Music. He listens to everything from Coltrane, The Beatles, Nirvana, Jeff Buckley, Spoon, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, and back to Willie Nelson. He goes to punk Concerts, broadway shows, and will tear up listening to Adrianne Lenker. My 16 year old is a mystery. He plays saxophone and puts together a sick beat on his music equipment he got for Christmas last year.

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hungrypotato0853@reddit

We pretty much use Spotify for all of our music needs, both in the house and in the car. All of our CDs have been packed away in a box for over a decade. I despise physical media (CDs, DVDs, etc.) as it's unnecessary clutter. If

My oldest is only 11yo, so she has an account as part of our family plan.

If there's anything we can't access on Spotify or one of our streaming services, I just pirate it.

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jessm307@reddit (OP)

There are so many things I love about physical media, but the clutter factor is real!

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hungrypotato0853@reddit

I mean, I get the arguments for physical media, especially the whole "you never actually own digital media" and you can lose access at any time... but I'm middle aged, and tired, and really couldn't care less. I just want a home with as little clutter and nick-knacky trash in it as possible.

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osddelerious@reddit

Sonos can do Spotify, I think, and the smaller apple home pod can do Apple Music. I recommend the HomePod mini for streaming, no screen though.

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BritOnTheRocks@reddit

My kids usually request a song on their Echo devices and then listen to the playlist it creates after that. Sometimes they will add a song to their favorites if they like it enough. The eldest has a pretty varied taste, she recently started requesting Massive Attack playlists after she heard them in my car.

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HalfFrozenSpeedos@reddit

Echo iirc does support Spotify in most of the world (and tidal for those in the USA)

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BritOnTheRocks@reddit

Yeah, thats why they don’t have it right now. I’m implying that it will be installed on a future tablet and they can use their headphones or our Sonos speakers.

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WhoDatLadyBear@reddit

I had to create a family Spotify account a few years ago when my end of year recap was all my daughters music.

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HalfFrozenSpeedos@reddit

Lol 😆 I foolishly merged my library with my wife's ....some of her stuff is to my liking, other stuff is what the fuck is this fucking shite

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aweedl@reddit

Spotify. I hate it. I have thousands of records, tapes and CDs in the next room and my kids are glued to their phones listening to streaming music like a couple of animals.

Only being semi-sarcastic. I like that they play the music they enjoy for me, because I’m always curious about what they’re into, but the worst part about streaming rears its ugly head:

Where is this band from? I dunno. What’s the name of the album? I dunno. What genre do you call this? I dunno.

Bring back liner notes, please.

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HalfFrozenSpeedos@reddit

Tidal and Spotify both iirc show artist bios and tidal does show the album the track is from, alongside the other tracks from the album.

If they are into music then perhaps getting a tidal sub and using tunemymusic to transfer their favourite lists alongside some nice headphones or bookshelf speakers might be a good idea?

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jessm307@reddit (OP)

You nailed all my pet peeves about streaming. Plus my kid identifies songs by the random youtube video visuals, which generally have zero connection to whatever the artist was trying to put out there.

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Dazzling_Line_8482@reddit

Spotify or Apple Music

Just realized they have never bought an album.

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Frosty_Cloud_2888@reddit

I buy them albums. CD’s or vinyl.

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ReagleRamen@reddit

My oldest wants a record player. I had not realized how big the vinyl comeback has become

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HalfFrozenSpeedos@reddit

The older of my younger brother has been collecting vinyl for years now

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jessm307@reddit (OP)

I love this.

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Putrid-Art-1559@reddit

My kids are all about Spotify. My oldest is big into 90’s alternative and rock and 80’s rock so I feel like I am succeeding as a parent. A lot of years of me singing in the car lead to this.

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HalfFrozenSpeedos@reddit

Tidal has better sound quality and in some respects a better selection (worse in other....ymmv) Wife says the suggestion / recommendation algorithm in her view is way better on tidal than Spotify for alternative / rock / metal from the 80s/90s - her tastes though go from Static X (and way harder) to The Chicks to Great Big Sea to Soundgarden to Avril to bubblegum girly pop to some really out there stuff.

A half decent set of bookshelf speakers and a wiim mini makes for a good starter music player (we have a set in the bedroom I use as a chill alarm - mammoth D40X book shelf speakers on wall mounts, another wiim in the living room hooked to an AV amp with some Sony floor standing speakers and some Aiwa bookshelf speakers, another wiim in the garage hooked to a sound bar. I also listen to tidal on the av amp hooked to my PC via optical to a set of wharfedale diamond 9.1s(£80 and as new, came in the original box with all paperwork) directly in front of me, a fyne audio LC430 centre speaker and some Gale silvers as rear Speakers (??) I got cheap (like £30 online) - it's worth setting the sound quality as high as it will go and using the wiim room calibration )

Setting speakers the same distance apart as they are from the main listening position (think triangle) with the speakers canted in at a 135degree angle and the tweeters at "listening" ear height. I sorta scoffed at this, until I tried it.

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Haven@reddit

I have my own kids in their 20s who all use

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darksideofmypoon@reddit

Yup, I don’t know what my 12 yr old would do without Spotify. It’s the only app on her iPad that doesn’t have a time limit. She finds all kinds of music. Currently loves Pulp, the Smiths, the Cure and Black Sabbath and I couldn’t be prouder.

We listen to records around the house and these are the types of records I actually own so it’s been great having her go through them. They’re finally cool to her!

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barters81@reddit

My son who is a mumble rap lover typically, just asked me if I can show him how to play smells like teen spirit on guitar. Yep no worries.

I feel like I’ve won something.

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seanymphcalypso@reddit

All of my kids are on Spotify as well. My oldest set up a family account and let the younger siblings have their own accounts.

Oldest: streams while driving, music or podcasts, sometimes books

Youngest: streams almost exclusively to her headphones

Middle one: streams while driving. Loudly. If he gets home and there’s a good beat I’ll text him and ask what song it is so I can add it to my Apple account lol

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HopelesslyHuman@reddit

Tidal for streaming and I buy albums from bands/artists I really like to super-support when they put out new releases...but most of my listening is streaming on Tidal.

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WhichEditor5799@reddit

My teenager uses Spotify and Apple Music. Sometimes YouTube. No physical media or radio

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bikeonychus@reddit

We use the radio.

My 8YO is a special needs kid who's always struggled with music to the point where she learned how to turn off most devices that play music by the time she was 4. But when she was 7, she got obsessed with things from thew 80s (thanks to that one episode of bluey), and one day a neighbour left us a load of old cassettes and she was super interested in them, so I thrifted an old boombox. I put the cassettes on which were some 90s dance music, and showed her how to control the volume. Then we tried the radio and I put on some classic rock station, and she was ok with that as she liked the talk sections, and because she could control the volume she was comfortable listening to it. We've kept that up, and now she's a lot more comfortable with music playing - but only the radio. I'm happy with this, because I love radio, and I don't have to think about what album I want to listen to, so it's a win-win all round.

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misterlakatos@reddit

I play Spotify at home and in the car. My oldest daughter loves a lot of the classic bands I play on a regular basis and I will also play the K-Pop Demonhunters soundtrack for her (along with Frozen and Moana from time to time).

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Every_Instruction775@reddit

My kids insist Spotify is the only acceptable platform and they listen on their phones with air pods. If one is in the shower then he will use Bluetooth speaker or speaker from the phone.

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Ube_Ape@reddit

My kids are primarily on Spotify but they dabble a bit with Apple Music because I have a family subscription and I've seen them hit up YouTube as well.

I primarily listen to the satellite radio in the car and use it make my playlist then stream off of Apple Music outside of the car.

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burgundyblue@reddit

We have CDs and vinyls. The kiddo uses Apple Music for the most part. He’s getting his first vinyl for Xmas this year (he’s 11).

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Disastrous-Tourist61@reddit

My daughter asked for a cassette player last year. She also has records and CDs. Obviously mostly streams though.

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JustSomeGuy422@reddit

My kids use Spotify. My youngest is 14 and she is a metal head like her dad.

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vinylchickadee@reddit

I just bought my kids (4 and 8) a CD boombox for Xmas--so much of what was a tactile part of common culture when we were kids only seems to exist on our phones or other devices now, and it makes me sad.

Currently, they ask Alexa to play whatever they want to hear but they like a lot of the music my husband and I grew up listening to so we already have a ready supply of CDs for them to try. We'll see how it goes. Pushing buttons will be a big draw for the little one, and I think my older kid will enjoy reading the lyrics in the liner notes.

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High_Speed_Chase@reddit

My wife kept her iPod. We put Stevie Wonder, Beatles, Stones, Van Halen, Bob Marley, ATCQ and more on it & let em have it.

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MoonlitBlossoms@reddit

YouTube, cds, radio.. my 16 & 15 year old daughters actually listen to a 90’s and early 2000’s playlist I made on YouTube.

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DisastrousFlower@reddit

AM radio in car. 5yo has a CD player, walkman and tape deck, and record player. alexa in the house.

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jessm307@reddit (OP)

Ha! ALL the options!

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DisastrousFlower@reddit

no 8 track…yet.

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Weird_Squirrel_8382@reddit

My son got his first phone at 12. He started right away with Spotify. He also has an app to listen to radio stations around the world. We share playlists and songs all the time. He also collects cassettes and CDs, from metal bands he goes to see, and from the old school artists he grew up listening to at family events. Lately he has gone back to a dedicated mp3 player (a lot of his metal favorites sell their music through bandcamp etc) because he's trying to have less phone-in-hand time.

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Electrical_Knee_9859@reddit

My 16yo loves physical media and she brought down the cassette/CD boombox from her bedroom for her birthday party last week.

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jessm307@reddit (OP)

That’s awesome.

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