Gen Z leans hard into nostalgia to drive music discovery
This gen leans hard into nostalgia more powerfully than older cohorts, according to Vevo's "Then is Now" study of 1,800 consumers in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. Gen Z viewers use borrowed nostalgia—longing for eras they never lived—to discover music, deepen emotional connections, and shape what they watch and stream next.
The heart-tugging pull of nostalgia tugs hardest on Gen Z, Variety reports, even though many of its youngest fans were born long after the cultural moments they now crave. Commissioned by Vevo—the music video streaming service owned by Sony Music and Universal Music Group—the survey evenly split respondents across Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z in all three markets.
Key Takeaways
- 65% of Gen Z report "borrowed nostalgia" for eras they never directly experienced, outpacing Millennials (55%) and Gen X (54%).
- 64% of Gen Z say nostalgia strongly influences what they watch; 88% say it makes emotional experiences feel deeper.
- Consumers who arrive via nostalgia are increasingly likely to search for more catalog material after a single trigger.
- Streaming has collapsed generational barriers, letting digital natives form deep bonds with decades-old content on demand.
- Catalog spikes followed the Beatles' November 2024 "Anthology" release (+62% on Vevo) and Gap's use of Kelis' "Milkshake" (+66%).
Why does Gen Z lean hard into borrowed nostalgia?
The study defines Gen Z as ages 14–29, Millennials as 30–45, and Gen X as 46–61. Among those groups, Gen Z shows the strongest appetite for "borrowed" nostalgia—a yearning for the trappings of times they never experienced firsthand.
"These digitally native consumers yearn for collective, shared experiences that existed before content was available immediately on demand," the report states. With streaming collapsing generational barriers, younger audiences can access timeless music and TV instantly, forming emotional connections with cultural moments from decades before they were born.
How is nostalgia reshaping music and content discovery?
Consumers drawn to Vevo through nostalgia—or after hearing a vintage tune in a movie or TV show—are increasingly likely to search for more material from that era. The typical 20-to-25-year cycle for nostalgic windows in pop culture is also accelerating, fueled by Gen Z and younger Millennials who grew up as digital natives.
Real-world spikes back the trend. Beatles material on Vevo climbed 62% after the November 2024 "Anthology" release, and Kelis' 2003 hit "Milkshake" jumped 66% after retailer Gap used the song in a marketing campaign. Those catalog surges show how a single nostalgic cue can send new audiences down a discovery rabbit hole.
What does the study mean for streaming and TV?
For platforms and programmers, the findings suggest catalog content is not just filler—it is a discovery engine. Nostalgia-driven viewers treat older material as a gateway to deeper fandom, not a one-off curiosity. That shift matters across streaming and TV alerts, where sync placements in film and TV, reboots, and retro-inspired visuals increasingly shape what lands on watchlists.
The research arrives as streaming services compete for attention across generations, and as music-video platforms track how vintage discoveries convert into repeat viewing. Read the full breakdown in Variety's coverage of the study.
Where does nostalgia rank across generations?
While Gen Z leads, borrowed nostalgia is hardly exclusive to the youngest cohort. More than half of Millennials and Gen X respondents also reported longing for eras they never lived through directly. The difference is intensity: Gen Z's embrace is strongest, and it is actively steering what they watch, hear, and share next.
As younger audiences curate identity through cultural moments they discover on demand, the line between old and new content keeps blurring. Nostalgia is less a backward glance than a forward path—one that starts with a borrowed memory and ends with a fresh search for more.