“Young people are on YouTube”: industry notions on streaming and youth as a new media generation

Abstract

This article explores industry perceptions on youth and “young streamers” and how these notions inform strategies for remaining relevant for the future, drawing on 39 qualitative interviews with CEO/top-level executives working in the Norwegian music, film, television, and book industries. The article combines perspectives on sensemaking processes in organisations and critical media industry studies to account for how executives in times of shifting realities work within industry discourses to interpret new conditions and stay in action. It finds that executives share an understanding of youth as different from older audiences, representing a new “media generation”. While this notion is simplistic, it serves as a “burning platform” legitimating new strategies and practices.