Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter from South Fallsburg, New York. DeGraw began singing and playing piano at the age of eight and attended Berklee College of Music during the same year as artist John Mayer.
In 2001, DeGraw released his first album independently named Gavin Live.
In 2003, his first major studio album was released, entitled Chariot, on July 22nd. He released Chariot Stripped a year later, an album with the same songs, but the instruments brought down to a minimum. The album has so far peaked at #1 in two countries, in Denmark and on the US Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. His first single, I Don’t Want To Be, was released on December 14th 2004 and was the theme tune to the hit TV. drama series One Tree Hill. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #10, the Billboard Pop 100 at #3, #6 in Norway and #38 in the UK, making it his only UK top 40 hit. It has been certified 2x Platinum, selling over 2 million copies.
From the information I gathered i discovered that popular listeners of this artist tend to be around the age of 19 showing he attracts a younger audience.
Iron and Wine
Samuel Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage and recording name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released five studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a live album (a recording of his 2005 Bonnaroo performance). He occasionally tours with a full band. Despite the immediately sophisticated nature of his songwriting, Beam’s first forays into music mainly existed in isolation, his music only coming to the attention of the wider world when a home-recorded track was featured on a covermount CD free with Yeti magazine. Although Beam would later expand his sound to include electric instruments and rich, lush textures, it was his early lo-fi recordings that caught the ear of Jonathan Poneman, co-owner of Sub Pop Records, resulting in the release of debut album The Creek Drank the Cradle in September 2002. Using his husky, whispery voice over mostly-acoustic tunes, Beam sings songs steeped in the imagery of the rural South. His quiet songs have made a loud noise on the alternative scene.
Last.fm allows me to look at some popular listeners:
When researching into the music video style of Iron and Wine, I found that is was common for the singer himself to not actually feature in the music video. Many of the videos of this songs are off almost random images but with a closer look appear to have a link to the lyrics of the song. However, this said, he does feature in some of the videos; for examples; Boy With A Coin. Whilst he does appear in the video he is not the centre of attention. An over lapping story is seen and the focus is taken of the appearance of the singer himself. This is a common characteristic of music videos of this genre.
Besuited and bearded, Beam grasps his acoustic guitar before a 12-strong band boasting a string section, brass and three female backing vocalists. Beam writes with an artist's eye, his songs alive with place and time. But during a solo spot, he falls victim to his own back catalogue when he takes requests from the audience. Playing, as he puts it, "Iron and Wine buffet style", causes the odd stumble, but never jeopardises the loveliness or nostalgic Boy With a Coin.
To help reach an audience throughout the world, the use of a website is used. The website is dedicated to the music of Iron and Wine. It allows people to be kept up to date with the latest releases of music and tour dates. This grasps his demographic and ensures a large fan base. This website also offers fans the chance to buy merchandise, which funds this artist the chance of bigger and better things.
John Mayer
John Mayer has two distinct gifts: His virtuosic guitar skills and his aptitude for classy pop-rock songs. Putting those abilities to use both on his solo albums and with the John Mayer Trio, his blues-rock group, Mayer earned big chart success, becoming the sensitive singer-songwriter of choice for hordes of Americans. Mayer's big break came after he appeared at 2000's South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX, when he signed with Aware Records, a Columbia subsidiary. In 2009, Mayer performed an instrumental version of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" at Jackson's memorial service, and in November, Mayer released his fourth studio album, Battle Studies, which debuted at Number One, which highlights the success of his career.
When researching into John Mayer, I found the following demographics:
Singer, songwriter, and guitarist John Mayer’s soft rock earned him a number of Grammy Awards, paving the way for similar success in a blues-based vein. The style of John Mayer has also showed us a side of him and allowed us to see a difference in his music style as the years have went on. John Mayer has gone through one of the more impressive style transformations. Early in his career, he dressed like a nerd who wished he was a bro. In 2011, he re-emerged in head-to-toe visvim looks and basically bodied the style haters. He went through an experimental period where he tried plaid pants and even a cranberry red suit, but Mayer has definitely finessed his look. These days, he spends thousands of dollars on visvim clothes and wears the Japanese brand almost every single day. Researching into this has helped me understand how the clothing and appearance of a musician can play a crucial role into establishing their genre and promoting themselves as an artist.
Gabrielle Aplin
Gabrielle was virtually unheard of, she was just another young artist who posted videos on YouTube hoping she would be noticed. She first came to fame after her haunting version of The Power Of Love was chosen by John Lewis to soundtrack its blockbuster Christmas advertising campaign. Her own unique twist on Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Power of Love determined her style of music. This is a common convention of artists of the alternate genre, taking a common song and twisting it to a completely different sound, almost so that it is basically unrecognisable. Aplin, who set up a DIY record label aged 17 to release her own songs and notched up 2.5 million YouTube views for her single Home, actively lobbied John Lewis to sing this year’s song. “I always looked forward to the adverts and I’ve been pestering them for a long time to cover a song,” she told the Independent.
Gabrielle follows the typical conventions of an indie girl singer. Her style is basic casual clothes, and not low-cut, skin showing, over the top clothes that is a common stereotype of many pop female singers, a basic 60's vibe style. Her style makes her appeal to a female audience as its a down to earth style that is very relatable. Her songs are often emotional and easily identifiable with girls.
There are common themes that are carried out in the music videos of her first album. For instance, in many of her videos she appears as a character however a story is not necessarily being told. Images are shown and Gabrielle appears throughout and normally links are made with the lyrics with the song. For example, the opening line in the song 'panic cord' talks about throwing things away that were actually kept whilst the video shows a girl opening a box full of things.
The Gabrielle Aplin website allows her to communicate with her fans and as she is an artist who has only started her career it gives her the opportunity to expand her fan base. On the website she leaves personal messages which reach out to her fans, she gives tour dates, photos, merchandise and any new releases. This is the perfect way for a new artist to broaden their audience at a low cost. The website always offers some free downloads which is perfect, as people will take anything free and it helps get her music out there. The website is always linked to all forms of social networking sites such as facebook and twitter which allows fans to communicate together and gives her support. From this she can also learn exactly what her audience want which is an added benefit. As most new artists are on a budget this website technique is perfect.
Daughter Besuited and bearded, Beam grasps his acoustic guitar before a 12-strong band boasting a string section, brass and three female backing vocalists. Beam writes with an artist's eye, his songs alive with place and time. But during a solo spot, he falls victim to his own back catalogue when he takes requests from the audience. Playing, as he puts it, "Iron and Wine buffet style", causes the odd stumble, but never jeopardises the loveliness or nostalgic Boy With a Coin.
John Mayer
John Mayer has two distinct gifts: His virtuosic guitar skills and his aptitude for classy pop-rock songs. Putting those abilities to use both on his solo albums and with the John Mayer Trio, his blues-rock group, Mayer earned big chart success, becoming the sensitive singer-songwriter of choice for hordes of Americans. Mayer's big break came after he appeared at 2000's South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX, when he signed with Aware Records, a Columbia subsidiary. In 2009, Mayer performed an instrumental version of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" at Jackson's memorial service, and in November, Mayer released his fourth studio album, Battle Studies, which debuted at Number One, which highlights the success of his career.
When researching into John Mayer, I found the following demographics:
Gabrielle Aplin
Gabrielle was virtually unheard of, she was just another young artist who posted videos on YouTube hoping she would be noticed. She first came to fame after her haunting version of The Power Of Love was chosen by John Lewis to soundtrack its blockbuster Christmas advertising campaign. Her own unique twist on Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Power of Love determined her style of music. This is a common convention of artists of the alternate genre, taking a common song and twisting it to a completely different sound, almost so that it is basically unrecognisable. Aplin, who set up a DIY record label aged 17 to release her own songs and notched up 2.5 million YouTube views for her single Home, actively lobbied John Lewis to sing this year’s song. “I always looked forward to the adverts and I’ve been pestering them for a long time to cover a song,” she told the Independent.
Gabrielle follows the typical conventions of an indie girl singer. Her style is basic casual clothes, and not low-cut, skin showing, over the top clothes that is a common stereotype of many pop female singers, a basic 60's vibe style. Her style makes her appeal to a female audience as its a down to earth style that is very relatable. Her songs are often emotional and easily identifiable with girls.
The Gabrielle Aplin website allows her to communicate with her fans and as she is an artist who has only started her career it gives her the opportunity to expand her fan base. On the website she leaves personal messages which reach out to her fans, she gives tour dates, photos, merchandise and any new releases. This is the perfect way for a new artist to broaden their audience at a low cost. The website always offers some free downloads which is perfect, as people will take anything free and it helps get her music out there. The website is always linked to all forms of social networking sites such as facebook and twitter which allows fans to communicate together and gives her support. From this she can also learn exactly what her audience want which is an added benefit. As most new artists are on a budget this website technique is perfect.
Daughter is an English indie rock band originating from London in 2010. Originally the solo work of Elena Tonra, they are now a trio with the addition of guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella. After releasing three EPs in 2010 and 2011, they were signed by 4AD and released their first full-length album,If You Leave, in March 2013. The trio met at London's the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. After their first demo started word of mouth on the band, Daughter self-released their debut EP, His Young Heart, on April 20, 2011. Later that same year, they released another EP, The Wild Youth, on October 2 through artist-led Communion Records. The latter EP earned praise from British website For Folk’s Sake who described Daughter as "one of the most unique sounds in the pop landscape today." The band released their debut album, If You Leave, in March 2013 (May in North America). Charting at Number 16 in the UK, it was also received favourably in the press; "An album as beautifully conceived as If You Leave is one you follow from start to finish, riveted by the story it weaves and the emotion it bleeds. And in these digital days that feels like a remarkable achievement" Drowned In Sound said in their 9/10 review, while The Fly in a 4/5 album review said that it's "word-in-the-ear intimate and mountain-range massive."
Think the kooky/quirky axis, only more Diana Vickers than Björk. It works as an element of a musical whole but you wouldn't want to leave it unadorned for too long. Luckily, Tonra seems to have come to this realisation, because from her first EP, His Young Heart, to the current one, Wild Youth, there has been an increased attention to detail, to keyboard layers and haunting atmospherics. Love, for example, the last track on the EP, builds and builds, to the point where one of the commenters on Daughter's SoundCloud compares it to the Blue Nile in terms of "sound and architecture".
Their inspiration: "I think we have a lot of different musical influences between us, we all grew up with different things playing. I was brought up on songwriters, mainly things that my parents were listening to: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, David Bowie and then later in my early teens I became really fascinated by Jeff Buckley. Igor listened to more experimental stuff in his teens, he has quite an abstract brain which is really great to work with. And Remi was brought up on jazz. So our sound is a jumble of all our various tastes in music."
From looking at the demographics closer I was able to understand better the audience of this band. This band a has a strong following, however, isn't a band that every household would know. They show how an indie band can gain a large fan base yet not turning towards mainstream ways purely to get a bigger audience, they manage to stay true to their original sound. As many would expect they have received the biggest audience from their home in the UK, however the band have their eyes set on expanding and heading for America to grow more. 