History PeripheryDemographic / Music

* Music/AlterBridge were originally marketed towards teenagers, much like Mark Tremonti's previous band Music/{{Creed}}. However, their biggest audience is among older classic rock fans, who've noticed the heavy influence from 70s rock bands. In addition, Alter Bridge won over many of Creed's detractors, mainly because of the difference in vocal style between Myles Kennedy and Scott Stapp, as well as the more classic rock-influenced sound.

* Music/{{Korn}}, Music/{{Slipknot}} and Music/LinkinPark are the usual exceptions to people that don't like nu metal. The fact that Korn were the genre's TropeMaker, that Slipknot are one of the genre's most recognizable acts and that Linkin Park's status [[DeadArtistsAreBetter was elevated after Chester Bennington's death]] helps.

** Gaga has proven to be quite popular with middle-aged women and mothers, no doubt due to her heavy Madonna influence, as well as her [[TheDiva diva]] stage persona.

** At first, Lady Gaga was initially marketed to clubgoers and gay men, with her [=electropop=] music being more fit for clubs than for mainstream radio. However, by her peak, she had amassed a large following of young girls, who viewed her as a idol in a similar way to how young girls in the 80s saw Music/{{Madonna}} or Music/CyndiLauper. Her large following of young girls caused many people outside her target demographic and fanbase to view her as a much more flamboyant version of a "diva"-type idol.
** Gaga was also quite popular with middle-aged women and mothers, no doubt due to her heavy Madonna influence, as well as her [[TheDiva diva]] stage persona.

** Eminem was marketed mostly to (white) young men and boys, but his most passionate fans tended to be teenage girls, despite his reputation for childish edginess and misogyny. In part, this was because his Slim Shady [[AlterEgoActing Alter Ego]], a woman-killer intended as ComedicSociopathy and a way of expressing his rage and pain, fit into GothicHorror tropes that are about exploring female fears about predatory and abusive men. In addition, his videos frequently playing next to {{Boy Band}} videos on ''[[Creator/{{MTV}} Total Request Live]]'' did a lot to cause teen girl fans to view him as an edgier version of a PrettyBoy idol.

* Music/EmilieAutumn, despite probably, along with Otep, being the closest thing to riot grrrl today, has a rather large male fanbase.(according to a survey, as much as 60% of her fans were male). She has acknowledged this, calling them her "Asylum Boys".

* HipHop has a surprisingly strong following among [[AlternativeRock indie rock]] fans. The {{hipster}} tastemaker Pitchfork features as much hip-hop and R&B as much as it does indie rock.

** A huge example is hair metal, which was initially marketed towards men like the rest of metal, but as the 80's went on, there were just as many female fans as male, or even more. A good example is the Music/{{Judas Priest}} live video ''Priest...Live!'', released to document the tour in support of the ''Turbo'', which was a very hair metal sounding album. If you watch it, the crowd shots show just as many women at the concert as there are men, way more than would have been just two years earlier.

* Ever since she first started out as a teenager, Music/{{Lorde}} has been ''much'' more respected by adults, especially men, than most singers in that age range. Likely due to her being DarkerAndEdgier than most people her age, and having a singing voice that's actually good.

* Music/BritneySpears is a Christian girl from the DeepSouth (born in Mississippi, raised in Louisiana) who has a ''huge'' following among gay men. It helps that she was able to pull off uptempo dance-pop music quite well, and she partly owes her CareerResurrection to the LGBTQ+ community.
* Music/{{Beyonce}} was originally marketed to urban audiences, both as part of Music/DestinysChild and as a solo singer. However, half of her fandom, the [=Beyhive=], is comprised of white men & women, including [[LGBTFanbase a good portion of gay men]].

* The {{Music/Vocaloid}} song [[https://youtu.be/4sq2lPNxi7M "drop pop candy"]] is extremely popular with the ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'' fandom thanks to the existence of a [[https://youtu.be/piJdM9AQy1w fan-made version]] that casts fan-favorite characters Sans and Papyrus as the singers instead of Rin and Luka; this version is ''more popular'' [[TheWeirdAlEffect than the original version]]! Fellow Vocaloid song "Echo" has achieved disproportionate popularity among ''Undertale'' fans as well due to an alternate version of the song sung by W.D. Gaster instead of GUMI, which in turn was used in a popular fan animation starring Sans and Gaster.

*** [[WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butt-Head]] praised the video for "Delia's Gone," a MurderBallad from his 1994 album ''American Recordings'', asking, "Is this GangstaRap?"

* Similarly, Music/ElvisCostello has a big following with black audiences, with famous fans including Creator/ChrisRock and UsefulNotes/BarackObama. This is especially ironic, considering the infamous N-word incident, which hurt his popularity in the US, but apparently only with white audiences.

* Music/{{Skillet}} have amassed a large fanbase throughout their career. What's particularly impressive is that of these fans, many are not Christian, and of the non-Christian fans, ''many'' are agnostic or atheist outright.

* The {{Music/Vocaloid}} song [[https://youtu.be/4sq2lPNxi7M "drop pop candy"]] is surprisingly popular with the ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'' fandom thanks to the existence of a [[https://youtu.be/piJdM9AQy1w fan-made English version]] that casts fan-favorites Sans and Papyrus as the singers over Rin and Luka. So popular, in fact, that it's ''more popular'' than the original version!

* Music/CarlyRaeJepsen was a mainstream pop star best known for "Call Me Maybe", but after her album ''E•MO•TION'' became an AcclaimedFlop, most of her fanbase has largly been made up of indie rock fans who'd usually never listen to pop music.

* Music/{{Beyonce}} was originally marketed to urban audiences, both as part of Music/DestinysChild and as a solo singer. However, half of her fandom, the [=Beyhive=], is comprised of white men & women, including [[LGBTFanbase a good portion of gay men]]. Her LGBTFanbase is a bit complicated - while Beyoncé barely made any attempts to appeal to gay audiences in her work with Destiny's Child nor in her early solo material, her diva status gives her appeal to gay men.

* Music/TaylorSwift had a large following of young adult males when she was marketed to teenage girls. Now that her fans are adults, she has a large LGBT fanbase (especially post-Music/{{Reputation}}). Prior to her coming out of the political closet for the 2018 midterm elections, she was very popular with alt-right types/Neo-Nazis who took her silence to mean she agreed with them.

* Music/{{Beyonce}} was originally marketed to urban audiences, both as part of Music/DestinysChild and as a solo singer. However, half of her fandom, the [=Beyhive=], is comprised of white men & women, including [[LGBTFanbase a good portion of gay men]].

* Music/{{Evanescence}} is commonly thought of by haters as being for teenyboppers, but they likely forget or ignore the fact that those were the ''unintended'' demographic. They aimed to appeal to rock fans both male and female alike, but happened to have a female singer and FaceOfTheBand. While it's true they still have a following with rock fans, the teenybopper fanbase is much more vocal overall.

** Music/LadyGaga may be considered ''the'' Gay Icon of TheOughties and New Tens.
*** Gaga is also quite popular with middle-aged women and mothers, no doubt due to her heavy Madonna influence.

** Despite being constantly criticised for his frequently homophobic lyrics, Em also has a large {{LGBT Fanbase}}. His transgressive, insecure weirdo persona ends up expressing the kind of forced masculinity that many gay men can relate to from hiding themselves before coming out, and his work also contains a lot of {{Camp}} content such as channelling over the top masculine and feminine stereotypes to play with gender roles in a way similar to [[DragQueen drag]]. Over the course of his career, his homophobia began to get referenced more in ways that was to satirise TestosteronePoisoning idiocy (such as panicking over if he would be gay if the tip of his penis [[ContrivedClumsiness somehow went into a guy during a football huddle while he was thinking of a woman]]), and towards the late 00s he was comfortable enough to turn the already depraved Slim Shady character into a DepravedBisexual and [[AdamWesting play himself coming out as gay]] in ''Film/TheInterview''. He's continually said that he has no problem with gay or trans people in real life, campaigned for equal marriage and is best friends with gay icon Music/EltonJohn, who he's duetted with numerous times and who helped mentor him out of his pill addiction. One of the few times he's ever apologised for his lyrics was for using a homophobic slur towards Music/TylerTheCreator, who at the time had fan speculation that he was gay due to anecdotes on his ''Flower Boy'' album. Eminem claimed he meant it in good fun but didn't want to 'hurt a whole community'.

* Music/{{Beyonce}} was originally marketed to urban audiences, both as part of Music/DestinysChild and as a solo singer. However, half of her fandom, the [=Beyhive=], is comprised of white men & women, including [[LGBTFanbase a good portion of gay men]].

* Urban radio stations catering to black audiences were some of the first to play NewWaveMusic, especially the more dance-oriented acts like Music/DuranDuran and Music/CultureClub, when white album rock radio shunned and ridiculed the genre. Creator/{{MTV}} repaid the favor by not playing any black artists until the success of Music/MichaelJackson's "Billy Jean". This likely explains the popularity of Music/TalkingHeads and Music/ElvisCostello among black audiences mentioned above.
* While the popularity of disco [[CondemnedByHistory faded around the turn of the decade from the '70s to the '80s]], discos became the place to hear {{New Wave|Music}} in the U.S. when mainstream rock radio, as mentioned earlier, refused to play it until Creator/{{MTV}} came along, which explains how Music/JoyDivision's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" managed to make the disco charts.

** Despite being constantly criticised for his frequently homophobic lyrics, Em also has a large {{LGBT Fanbase}}. His transgressive, insecure weirdo persona ends up expressing the kind of forced masculinity that many gay men can relate to from hiding themselves before coming out, and his work also contains a lot of {{Camp}} content such as channelling over the top masculine and feminine stereotypes to play with gender roles in a way similar to [[DragQueen drag]]. Over the course of his career, his homophobia began to get referenced more in ways that was to satirise TestosteronePoisoning idiocy (such as panicking over if he would be gay if the tip of his penis [[ContrivedClumsiness somehow went into a guy during a football huddle while he was thinking of a woman]]), and towards the late 00s he was comfortable enough to turn the already depraved Slim Shady character into a DepravedBisexual and [[AdamWesting play himself coming out as gay]] in ''Film/TheInterview''. He's continually said that he has no problem with gay or trans people in real life, campaigned for equal marriage and is best friends with gay icon Music/EltonJohn, who he's duetted with numerous times and who helped mentor him out of his pill addiction. One of the few times he's ever apologised for his lyrics was for using a homophobic slur towards Music/TylerTheCreator, who at the time had fan speculation that he was gay due to anecdotes on his ''Flower Boy'' album. Eminem claimed he meant it in good fun but didn't want to 'hurt a whole community'.

** Eminem was marketed mostly to (white) young men and boys, but his most passionate fans tended to be teenage girls, despite his reputation for childish edginess and misogyny. In part, this was because his Slim Shady [[AlterEgoActing Alter Ego]], a woman-killer intended as ComedicSociopathy and a way of expressing his rage and pain, fit into GothicHorror tropes that are about exploring female fears about predatory and abusive men. In addition, his videos frequently playing next to {{Boy Band}} videos on ''[[Creator/{{MTV}} Total Request Live'' did a lot to cause teen girl fans to view him as an edgier version of a PrettyBoy idol.

** Despite being constantly criticised for his frequently homophobic lyrics, Em also has a large {{LGBT Fanbase}}. His transgressive, insecure weirdo persona ends up expressing the kind of forced masculinity that many gay men can relate to from hiding themselves before coming out, and his work also contains a lot of {{Camp}} content such as channelling over the top masculine and feminine stereotypes to play with gender roles in a way similar to [[DragQueen drag]]. Over the course of his career, his homophobia began to get referenced more in ways that was to satirise TestosteronePoisoning idiocy (such as panicking over if he would be gay if the tip of his penis [[ContrivedClumsiness somehow went into a guy during a football huddle while he was thinking of a woman]]), and towards the late 00s he was comfortable enough to turn the already depraved Slim Shady character into a DepravedBisexual and [[AdamWesting play himself coming out as gay]] in ''Film/TheInterview''. He's continually said that he has no problem with gay or trans people in real life, campaigned for equal marriage and is best friends with gay icon Music/EltonJohn, who he's duetted with numerous times and who helped mentor him out of his pill addiction.

** Eminem was marketed mostly to (white) young men and boys, but his most passionate fans tended to be teenage girls, despite his reputation for childish edginess and misogyny. In part, this was because his Slim Shady [[AlterEgoActing Alter Ego]], a woman-killer intended as ComedicSociopathy and a way of expressing his rage and pain, fit into GothicHorror tropes that are about exploring female fears about predatory and abusive men. In addition, his videos frequently playing next to {{Boy Band}} videos on ''[[Creator/MTV}} Total Request Live'' did a lot to cause teen girl fans to view him as an edgier version of a PrettyBoy idol.
** Despite being constantly criticised for his frequently homophobic lyrics, Em also has a large {{LGBT Fanbase}}. His transgressive, insecure weirdo persona ends up expressing the kind of forced masculinity that many gay men can relate to from hiding themselves before coming out, and his work also contains a lot of {{Camp}} content such as him channelling over the top masculine and feminine stereotypes, in a way similar to {{Drag}}. Over the course of his career, his homophobia began to get referenced more in ways that implied he was playing an ArmoredClosetGay (such as panicking over if he would be gay if the tip of his penis [[ContrivedClumsiness somehow went into a guy during a football huddle while he was thinking of a woman]]), and towards the late 00s he was comfortable enough to turn the already depraved Slim Shady character into a DepravedBisexual and [[AdamWesting play himself coming out as gay]] in ''Film/TheInterview''. He's continually said that he has no problem with gay or trans people in real life, campaigned for equal marriage and is best friends with gay icon Music/EltonJohn, who he's duetted with numerous times and who helped mentor him out of his pill addiction.

* Music/{{Queen}}, despite being one of the quintessential bands classified as "dad rock", gained a large following of teens and young adults in TheNewTens. Much of their younger fans are also members of Queen's LGBTFanbase.

* A lot of fans of rave music have no interest in going to a club, they enjoy it for its energy. Particularly amongst fans of metal and punk. As a result there are a lot of bands who cross over metal and dance music, and their fanbases are similarly entwined. The AlternativeDance subgenre has also forged ties between AlternativeRock and dance music, going back to the {{Disco}} era.

* At home, Music/{{Babymetal}} are seen as just another JPop group with a weird gimmick. However, in other countries they have attracted a ''huge'' following within the HeavyMetal fandom.

** Similar to Johnny Cash above, Pink Floyd have long been the exception to people that don't like progressive rock. The band's lyrical themes and lack of pretension compared to several other bands in the genre, in addition to them being the genre's biggest band, seem to help.

* Urban radio stations catering to black audiences were some of the first to play NewWaveMusic, especially the more dance-oriented acts like Music/DuranDuran and Music/CultureClub, when white album rock radio shunned the genre. Creator/{{MTV}} repaid the favor by not playing any black artists until the success of Music/MichaelJackson's "Billy Jean". This likely explains the popularity of Music/TalkingHeads and Music/ElvisCostello among black audiences mentioned above.

** Music/TheBeatles' more innocent and silly songs have also been frequently recorded specifically as children's songs. "Octopus' Garden" is a major target, as is the iconic "Yellow Submarine" song itself.

* Music/{{Madonna}} is another example. She is marketed towards a female audience, but her biggest market is largely in the gay community. Also, like Michael, since she changes her format and looks every five or so years, she constantly has a fresh audience to perform for.

* Music/TaylorSwift had a large following of young adult males when she was marketed to teenage girls. Now that her fans are adults, she has a large LGBT fanbase (especially post-Music/{{Reputation}}). Prior to her coming out of the political closet for the 2018 midterm elections, she was very popular with alt-right types/Neo-nazis who took her silence to mean she agreed with them.

* Before Music/MichaelJackson's death, his "This Is It" concerts were stated to be an oldies act by the news media who expected mostly people in their 40s and up to be buying tickets. However, most of the people who actually bought tickets to the concerts were people in their 20s who became fans long after Michael's heyday. In fact, Michael retained a relatively young audience, especially females, throughout his entire solo career, which is very rare for an older act. Probably because the 2009–2010 concert would be the first concert for many Jackson's millennial fans while many of his baby boomer and Gen X fans watched his concerts multiple times in 80s and 90s.

* Music/{{Lorde}} is ''much'' more respected by adults, especially men, than most teenage singers. Likely due to her being DarkerAndEdgier than most people her age, and having a singing voice that's actually good.