I stole this from Andrew Bolt, who nicked it from somewhere else:

When I started working in the arts there was the usual joke that looking out over the classical music audience was like staring into a sea of grey. They would all die out, we were told, and there would be no one to replace them. Well it turned out that there was someone to replace them, the next generation. The truth is that people come to different art forms at different stages of their lives. This does not invalidate the art form or make it any less adventurous or relevant. In fact the older audience is often far more open to new ideas and forms than their younger counterparts who often use live performance, quite legitimately, as a social backdrop to the far more pressing concerns of talking to friends, dancing, and having a few drinks…

This focus has sent organisations into often surreal twists and turns trying to prove their youthful credentials. More than any other area in the arts, “audience development” is often confused, regularly tokenistic and at times downright embarrassing. Unsure about the merits of supporting art for arts sake, funding agencies and foundations focus their attention on developing younger audiences. Institutions in turn work around the clock to find ways to show how their ballet, orchestra or theatre company is reaching out to young people. They hang on a few nights where “young people” experience the art form and then hang around, drink beer perhaps with a DJ playing in the foyer. Like watching your parents getting funky at a wedding, these nights send a shiver down the spine.

I really grabbed it for this one line

"The truth is that people come to different art forms at different stages of their lives."

How trued that is, and it's not just art. One thing I noticed about the Spring Cycle is that it appears to be completely lacking the 18-30 age group. It's as if that group was carted off to another planet on Sunday morning - or they just failed to get out of planet Bed. There were quite a few kids of 10 and under, but the adults all seemed to start at 31 and just get older from there. I guess I was pretty typical.

What self-respecting teenager is going to get out of bed on Sunday morning to ride somewhere? There's at least 3 hours of Video Hits to watch, and then a whole day of loafing around ahead.