{"id":578261,"date":"2026-04-01T09:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/578261\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T09:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:39:11","slug":"live-nations-love-song-2026-finds-gen-z-embrace-retro-tech-scrapbooking-in-person-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/578261\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Nation&#8217;s Love Song 2026 finds gen Z embrace retro tech, scrapbooking, in-person connection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Daria Strezova does not have a record player, CD player, or cassette player, but she collects vinyl, CDs and cassettes and keeps them sealed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The 20-year-old, who is based in Sydney&#8217;s inner west, is part of generation Z.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I think a lot of gen Z find a lot of happiness in collecting things, whether that&#8217;s vinyl or Pok\u00e9mon or games, or figurines,&#8221; Ms Strezova said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;To me, vinyl isn&#8217;t just about the music of it. It&#8217;s the cover art. It&#8217;s the symbol that you really love that album.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">\u00a0&#8220;I think it&#8217;s also because people probably fear to a certain extent that that will be a lost thing in itself, that vinyl will no longer be produced in the future.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Live Nation has released its largest study on gen Z, which it called Love Song.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-02-28\/gen-z-driving-boost-cosmetic-injectables\/106258646\" data-component=\"FullBleedLink\" class=\"RelatedCard_link__rsgR9 FullBleedLink_root__lTw_U interactive_focusContext__yRhc_ interactive_defaults__AKxUU FullBleedLink_showVisited__g3Xvz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Why more gen Zs are getting cosmetic injectables such as botox<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RelatedCard_synopsis__cFwMW Typography_sizeMobile14__u7TGe Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">The number of non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as botox has increased by more than 44 per cent worldwide in four years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The annual study surveyed 5,692 Australians, including 1,411 gen Z respondents, who are 13-29 years old and make up 18.2 per cent of the Australian population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">It found gen Z were embracing retro tech that they would not get notifications on, like iPods, wired headphones, and Polaroid cameras, and were creating memories through physical scrapbooking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Many attend concerts alone, meeting new people at the gigs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">And 85 per cent are seeking deeper, more meaningful real-world connections \u2014 more than any other generation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think COVID had a massive influence on that for gen Z because we were all really young when that happened,&#8221;  Ms Strezova said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;It was really hard during those formative years to create connections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;So, then everyone kind of turned to social media to create those connections there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;And I think people are noticing that that is one level of connection, but it&#8217;s pretty surface-level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;And so, people probably now just crave way more of that in-person type of connection.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The study pointed out that gen Z were embracing Polaroid cameras, but Ms Strezova said they never really went out of fashion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;So, when I was 15, I remember going out hanging out with people my age, obviously, and everyone always had a Polaroid,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;And that kind of translated into now, my sister&#8217;s 15, and she is also gen Z, and she has a Polaroid herself, and she&#8217;s obsessed with it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-03-03\/how-asian-culture-will-influence-australia\/106364002\" data-component=\"FullBleedLink\" class=\"RelatedCard_link__rsgR9 FullBleedLink_root__lTw_U interactive_focusContext__yRhc_ interactive_defaults__AKxUU FullBleedLink_showVisited__g3Xvz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">How gen alpha&#8217;s fascination with Asian culture will shape Australia&#8217;s future<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RelatedCard_synopsis__cFwMW Typography_sizeMobile14__u7TGe Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">A futurist says Australia will become increasingly influenced by generation alpha and their interest in everything Asian.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;And I remember back then when I was 15, I really wanted a Polaroid camera. And that kind of has never died down in what I&#8217;ve seen at least, at hangouts and stuff.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Although she was not into it personally, she said scrapbooking had not really died either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I think it probably just helps a lot of gen Z, if it&#8217;s trending at the moment, with mental health stuff and just having an outlet,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">She said she had been on board with wired headphones, which she was using for a &#8220;really long time&#8221; until she upgraded to noise-cancelling headphones last year.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Everyone around me uses wired headphones,&#8221;  Ms Strezova said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I think it&#8217;s honestly probably because they&#8217;re easy to take care of, easy to keep, they survive longer than things like Bluetooth and I think gen Z are kind of tired of these new technologies being constantly cyclical and new things coming out all the time and things dying on us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A young woman with face turned, 2hollis standing next to her holding up his fingers in a rock star gesture\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/72dc82478620a79ded6b7a54bff00bc8.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Daria Strezova met American rapper 2hollis at a gig. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<p>Nostalgia and fandom<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The Live Nation study found that fandom was central to gen Z&#8217;s identity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Ms Strezova said she did not buy into fandom but it had always been a thing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Fandoms are quite huge,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Me, personally, I&#8217;m a fan of artists, but I wouldn&#8217;t say I&#8217;m part of a fandom. I see that as two separate things.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;To me, a fan is someone who actively engages in a person&#8217;s music or a person&#8217;s media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;But I would say fandom is the community that comes from that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">She said fandom was more parasocial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t feel that way towards artists,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel more so like their music is my escapism, but I don&#8217;t know the artist.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">She said she went to a lot of concerts and was partial to a bit of merchandise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;If I really love the artists, I will buy merch and I will actually wear it,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">She said she was still &#8220;very digitally-inclined&#8221; and listened to a lot of old-school hits from producers and artists such as Flo Rida, Peking Duk, Mike Posner, Nelly, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I would say I went from listening to what was on the radio, what was charting, to kind of going back to my nostalgic roots because even though I wasn&#8217;t a teenager or an adult in the 2000s, I still had a lot of nostalgia as a kid listening to that kind of music,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Why cinemas will &#8216;never die&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Concerts are fast becoming one of the few environments where gen Z can disconnect from digital noise, according to the study.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A man on the shoulders of someone else at a music festival with a crowd of people around him\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/7a741d05db7d966d74e3a1735dab134c.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">The study found young people often attended gigs alone. (Supplied: Mackenzie Sweetnam)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;It forces you to be there,&#8221; Ms Strezova said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;You paid for the ticket. You&#8217;re standing there, you&#8217;re listening to the music. Why would you be on your phone?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I guess I&#8217;ll kind of bring in the analogy with why I think cinema would never die either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Because people feel like being [in a movie theatre] forces them to actually be there versus on social media \u2026 you can click out of whatever you want to click out of.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I think people are just very tired of being online. I think there&#8217;s too much noise all the time.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daria Strezova does not have a record player, CD player, or cassette player, but she collects vinyl, CDs&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,7747,12346,4154,283660,283659,283658,136,7790,283661,22677],"class_list":["post-578261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-gen-z","tag-generation-z","tag-live-music","tag-live-nation-gen-z-study","tag-live-nation-study","tag-love-song","tag-music","tag-nostalgia","tag-retro-tech","tag-vinyl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}