Billboard ran a story a few weeks back titled “Behind The Madonna Deal”.  In the article, the new CEO of Artist Nation, Michael Cohl, talks about doing deals with older acts.  Here are some quotes from Michael:  On the Rolling Stones: “In 1989 I did a deal with the Rolling Stones – two of them were 46, one of them was 49, and one of them was 52; that was almost twenty years ago!”  On Frank Sinatra: “We promoted Frank Sinatra when he was 82 and sold out.”  On the issue of age:  “Talk about age is ridiculous.  It’s a boogeyman that younger people like to throw at older people.” 

Michael’s right, talk about age is ridiculous.
Here are two reasons why age doesn’t matter:

Digital Music Crosses Generations
Five years ago, acquiring music was time consuming.  Record labels targeted the segment of the population that had time to give.  Going to the record store was something that the kids did.  The Internet and digital music is changing the music acquisition landscape.  People of all ages are building music collections again.  As an artist you no longer have to be concerned about connecting with kids to sell music or to build popularity.  If your music appeals to older segments – then great.  In 2008, there’s an audience for every sound and song.

Huge Population Segments
On the attached chart I clumped the US population into three broad clumps (15 to 34) (35 to 54) (55 to 74).  You can see that the smallest segment is 50,531,000 people; that’s a huge market regardless of age.  You should also take note that the largest segment is the 87,009,000 people that are in the thirty-five to fifty-four year old segment that exists today.  This segment is connected to the Internet and they are more likely to purchase music than the younger segment that steals it.

Age Will Not Matter
Don’t worry about your age.  The old music industry wanted youth.  The new music industry just needs to help you find your niche.  Anyone overly focused on age doesn’t understand the shifts that are occurring in music acquisition behavior and within our population.  The next time someone tells you that you are too old - check to see if he’s carrying a layoff notice from a record label.