In terms of meaning and purpose for demographics of the target audience for record labels, again I have chosen to direct this question at 2 artists that Columbia Records have signed; it means that I have to take into consideration everything about the audiences the bands/singers appeal too, including things like gender and age.
In terms of Columbia Records, they have an extremely large range of artists that will all, of course, vary in terms of their target audiences, the age of the fans, the people who go to their concerts, etc. The artists range from pop singer, Ella Henderson, to rock band Kings of Leon, to legend Bob Dylan. So, in order to narrow down the range (because it would really be impossible to summarise Columbia records as a whole), the following two examples are from two artists who are signed to the label!
John Mayer
Gender
In terms of gender, with John Mayer his target audience is very universal; despite the initial appeal to pop/blues listeners, and females in particular, Mayer actually has a unique ability to appeal to everyone with his music, whether that be guitar players who like his style, or pop listeners who enjoy the sound, or blues fans. I think it partially comes down to the different album genres; unlike many artists around today, Mayer changes his genre every time he releases a new one, no matter how small the changes actually are. For example, his first album 'Room for 'Squares' is definitely far more acoustically driven than his 4th album, which is very full of soul and blues. His 5th on the other hand changes completely again to a country vibe.
Album 1 Album 4
Album 5
Age
Again, as mentioned before John Mayer's target audience is very universal; however I would say when he released his 4th album 'Battle Studies', it definitely appealed to the younger audiences far more than his previous albums because of the more pop music genre aspect to it. However again, all ages go to his concerts and so it is very hard to pin down an exact age; though I would say that perhaps late teens > are the main listeners. Because so many of his songs are about heartbreak too (one of them is literally called 'Heartbreak Warfare'), I think they also appeal more to older people who can relate to them. Overall, although his music is universal and everyone seems to enjoy it, I would say his audience leans towards the older generation.
Lifestyle
In terms of lifestyle, Mayer appears to be a very grounded person for Columbia Records label; however in 2009 he did cause some issues with several interviews, in which I think it would have been very easy for Columbia to have downright dropped him, there and then!
He also stays connected with his target audience ('fanbase') in all sorts of ways...
John Mayer on Twitter
Although Mayer doesn't interact with fans that much on twitter, he does sometimes when he 'tweets them' back!
John Mayer on Instagram
This is Mayer's Instagram account, a place where he effectively communicates to all of his fans through the form of pictures; he keeps everyone who wants to stay updated with him, updated! As you can see below, its almost possible to see exactly what he is doing, when he wants you to; so for example he documents his tour in pictures for the fans to follow, like and comment on as they wish.
John Mayer's website
This is a screenshot from John Mayer's website, where his team and himself are able to share things with the fans worldwide very easily. They share different tabs such as his tour dates/links to tickets, his merchandise shop, and of course all the links to his other social media!
The record company attracts Mayer's target audience through the use of social media and the internet quite successfully; although his sites are not as active as perhaps they could be, I believe the website in particular is still updated regularly by the record label, so when fans want to check what John is up to, they are able to very quickly and easily! Furthermore as I wrote before, the Instagram and twitter account are also great sources of social media for fans to go to; John himself handles these very well. Overall the record company are good at using the social media to appeal to the fanbase, and others interested in John's work!
Spending Power
Regarding spending power, John Mayer has sold 1,000,000's of his records through Columbia Records, all across the globe.
His first album 'Room For Squares', released in 2001, made $4,484,00.
His second album 'Heavier Things', released 2 years later, made approximately $3,000,000.
His third 'Continuum' made $2,800,000.
His fourth 'Battle Studies' made $1,100,000.
His fifth album 'Born and Raised' went straight to number one and made $514,000.
His most recent album 'Paradise Valley', released in 2013, made $300,000.
John Mayer at a concert in 2009
Furthermore I believe the spending power (disposable income of the target income) also varies a lot due to the varying ages of Mayer's supporters. However I would specify that the younger fans (such as the teenage girls) have a significantly smaller spending power than the older ones, merely due to the fact that most of them do not have jobs, etc.
The Script
Gender
In terms of The Script's target audience, gender-wise, unlike John Mayer it is quite a lot clearer that the majority of The Script's fans are young girls. I think the main reason why this was the case is because they seem to carry a 'boy band' persona around them, and that definitely appeals to female teenagers in particular! They are young too, but not that young so they don't just appeal to preteens which is obviously good too. For the boys who have discovered though that the Script are actually a band and can perform very well live (this mixed with their rock/pop guitar driven performances), they can and do actually appeal to the boys too; also the albums all the way up to album 4 (their most recent one, released in 2014 under the name 'No Sound Without Silence') are all based around heartbreak (very similar to John Mayer too!).. this means that the lyrics, especially because they were written by Danny O'Donoghue (the lead singer), are very relatable to men as well as women. So in this sense, although the majority of their fanbase consists of females, I think that men do enjoy them as well; all you have to do is study the people who turn up at their headline shows and festival gigs!
Album 1 Album 2
Album 3
Age
Again, with The Script, as well as girls making up the majority of the fanbases, they also do lean towards the younger generation (teens in particular); and again, I think a big part of that plays up to what the Script appear to look like. However it is interesting because although the band look like more of a boy band than a rock band, I think quite a few older people have come to know that they are actually a proper band as well. They all play their own instruments, write their own music and perform live at gigs in front of audiences that appreciate the music, as well as the members. In this case then, I think surprisingly they also do appeal to to the older generation who love rock/pop live music! Their albums too appeal to very different people; the first self titled album is more pop than the second, and the third is far more 'rap' than the fourth.
Lifestyle
In terms of lifestyle, and how The Script interact with their fans and communicate with the community they have created, they of course are on all the social media websites.
The Script on Instagram
This is The Script's profile on Instagram and is essentially the exact same thing that John Mayer has; however The Script post more regularly and interact with their fans more too by 'liking' their posts, etc. They also keep their fanbase up dated on whatever they're doing, more specifically through videos (especially on tour).
The Script's website
The two screenshots below are both from The Script's personal website, where again they are able to connect with all their fans across the whole world. Links are provided for the fans to go to specific areas of the website, where they are able to go to The Script's store, all their other sites (such as Twitter and Facebook), their music videos on Youtube, etc.
The record company attracts the bands target audience through the use of social media and the internet incredibly well actually; in fact the band themselves are also very good at the interaction with fans, particularly on their twitter page. I believe that interaction with a fanbase is key for a bands eventual build up in its success; and the record company certainly do it very well. The people who manage the social media accounts (set up by the record label) are constantly posting pictures of the band while they're on tour, answering questions any fans may have and just generally being very nice; so in that sense, the appeal within the social media itself is enough to get people on board for the Script!
Spending Power
In terms of spending power for The Script's target audience (their disposable income), again I believe that although the band's supporters actually range from several different age groups/genders, etc, the majority of the fanbase being perhaps younger and female (teens) means that their disposable income is considerably less than the older fans. Of course this is due purely to the reason that they are not yet employed, as opposed to the older supporters.
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