Kodaline is a Dublin-based Irish alternative rock quartet. Originally known as 21 Demands, the band made chart history in March 2007, when their debut single “Give Me A Minute” topped the Irish Singles Chart; becoming the first independently released track to achieve the feat. In 2005 the band participated in the irish competition called ‘You’re a Star’ and managed to come in seconds place and then in 2011 they changed their name to Kodaline.
Growing up in houses just two minutes away from each other in Swords, a working class town near Dublin airport, Steve Garrigan and Mark Prendergast met aged eight, when they were the only boys in the school choir. Skip forward six years and they recruited Vinny May, also situated a stones throw away and together set about forming the first of myriad bands. The line-up for Kodaline was recently completed by the addition of bassist Jason Boland. The band’s name, incidentally, means absolutely nothing. For the moment they wanted something they could take ownership of.
The band became a YouTube sensation with their music video for the song ‘All I Want’ which tells the heartbreaking story of a man. On October the 4th 2013 Kodaline released another music video for this song called ‘All I Want part 2” this again tells us about the man. Their album, ‘In A Perfect World’, contains 11 if their songs including ‘All I Want’, ‘High Hopes’ and ‘One Day”. The oldest on their album is ‘High Hopes’ which was based on a series of breakups that members of the band were facing during that time.
Teaching each other the principles of songcraft, the music they came up with some of which can be found on their self titled EP isn’t wan or introspective or self-serving. Instead, it’s bold, epic and stirring. Currently maintaining an air of understated mystery, Kodaline are soon set to unveil themselves to the world with these first four tracks recorded with Steve Harris (producer for Dave Matthews band, mixer for U2).
The typical audience for Kodaline would be people who regularly listen to indie/alternative music and who are around the age group of 17-40. The reason why there is such a wide range of ages that listen to kodaline is because this group in particular appeals to people of all ages. The music that they create is indie and does not specify on one main genre e.g.. indie rock or indie pop. Through the instrumental, lyrics and locations that kodaline use it makes it easy for teenagers to enjoy the music, as well as more mature adults as it is music that a wide range of people can relate to.
Through music profiles on Last.fm I am able to support some of the points previously made. For example, Kodaline are a group that can appeal to a wide range of people regardless if they prefer indie rock more than indie pop. Through research I was able to find a profile that supports this point. The person who owns the profile on Last.fm is one of a male who's username is "gonzaD456." From his Last.fm profile I was able to see his most listened to artists which mostly consisted of indie rock bands such as Paramore, Panic! at the disco and 30 seconds to mars. However also in his top played artists were Kodaline.
The location of listeners is mainly around the UK and Ireland, this is because Kodaline are from Ireland. This is reinforced through the UK iTunes store which has shown that Kodaline's album was in the top UK downloads. However through the last.fm top listeners section on Kodaline's page, there is also quite a significant number of listeners from Poland and Brazil.
The social background varies greatly from person to person as said before, the music Kodaline makes appeals to a wide range of people. It could appeal to people who like skateboarding and have a sort of gothic look to them, or it could appeal to someone the complete opposite, who dresses colourfully and has a completely different taste in music and is interested in completely different things. They tend to mostly be form Ireland and the UK, the fans from Ireland might be more passionate about their support for Kodaline than the UK as not as many groups make it big form Ireland as in the UK.
I believe because of the music Kodaline make, the lyrics and their personality, there would be an equal number of men and women listening to Kodaline as they are an indie group who appeal to everyone. This is supported by Last.fm which show an even number of men and women in the top listeners section for the Kodaline profile.
The spends and interests of fans of Kodaline through asking members of my class seem to consist of music, clothing and drama. Most of the listeners spends are £60 every two weeks and people who have part time jobs who would earn a little more, but overall have an average student income. Another interest would be going out to concerts and clubs with their friend group.
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