Music Consumption and Technological Eclecticism: Investigating Generation Y’s Adoption and Uses of Music Technologies

Abstract

This article is interested in a techno-cultural moment usually summarized by the phrase ‘digital age’. We explore how people who belong to Generation Y and were young at the time of the development of digital music technologies have adopted and used those new technological possibilities while maintaining a relationship with other media and technologies, such as the compact disc (CD), the vinyl disc and, eventually, the cassette tape. We situate our approach against arguments that either frame digital technologies as a ‘revolution’ that swept across all other technologies or stipulate that generations are tied to particular technological innovations. Drawing on qualitative methods, we defend an argument of technological eclecticism to understand the intra-variations and nuances that define individuals’ adoption and uses of music technologies in their consumption practices. This article provides a sociocultural perspective on the uses of music technologies by individuals whose music consumption practices have been largely essentialized.