Tuned In study finds kids are tuning out of booze and drugs

LONDON - Spring Research's youth-focused agency Tuned In has developed Pulse, a music and youth study, identifying emerging youth demographics that say no to booze and drugs.

The first study, which segments youth into musical styles and tribes, looks at Emotional Hardcore, known as Emo, a spin-off from punk, and Grime, which has developed from garage and electronic music.

According to the study, both styles are attracting young people who abstain from cigarettes, drugs and alcohol.

Douglas Dunn, Tuned In managing director, said: "Grime is very much about MC-battling, the worst thing you can do is lose respect from your peers by rolling around drunk."

As well as talking to teenagers themselves, Tuned In interviewed artists Kano and Roll Deep, music journalists from Metal Hammer and RWD, representatives from Sony BMG and a leading sociologist from the London School of Economics.

One tribe industry insiders kept referring to was straight-edgers, who wear crosses on their hands to celebrate the fact they are teetotallers and don't have promiscuous sex.

The craze started in the US where under-21s at gigs are given crosses on their hands to show they should not be served alcohol.

According to Tuned In's research, straight-edgers are becoming more common, celebrating their status with T-shirts saying "Good clean fun" and wearing triple-cross tattoos.

Dunn said the research showed the group was reacting against an era fuelled by booze and drugs.

The study also discovered a whole new vocabulary, a mix of patois and cockney, with words like "nang", meaning good, "baked" and "murked", meaning killed.

Tuned In client Unilever Lynx said the Pulse study was: "One of the best interactive de-briefs we have ever seen."

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