The departure of Zayn Malik in 2015 and the sabbatical path the boys took in 2016 left legions of fans around the world overwhelmed. This was inevitable. One Direction was the biggest boy band during its time, and each member remains one of the biggest celebrities in the world.
The meteoric rise of this boy band from the United Kingdom might be surprising. For some, it is hard to understand how a group of five teenagers weed out from a singing contest became one of the most important celebrities of 2010 to 2016. Apart from the fact that they did not win the United Kingdom franchise of The X Factor, most winners of televised singing contests hardly become pop superstars.
Furthermore, with the United States dominating mainstream music, it is hard to imagine how the British music industry successfully produced a boy band during the age of electronic dance music, solo female pop performers, reemerging hip-hop scene, and progressive indie-pop hybrids.
Understanding the Success of One Direction
The Beginnings of One Direction
Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik were individual contenders for the seventh series of The X Factor U.K. They had an unsuccessful bid to progress as solo performers. Still, contest judges, particularly Simon Cowell and guest-judge Nicole Scherzinger, thought it would be a waste if they let unripe but promising talents go. The two judges had a last-minute decision to put them as a boy band.
One Direction was practically born from a televised singing contest. The British audience witnessed how Styles, Payne, Tomlinson, Horan, and Malik matured as performers and as a band during most of the duration of the T.V. series. One of the judges, Irish entertainment manager Louis Walsh, had repeatedly mentioned how One Direction could be the next biggest boy band of pop music.
The five lads also witnessed their growing number of followers across the U.K. as they progressed through weekly elimination rounds. However, they only landed third place during the finals. Solo performers Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson gained more public votes. Still, the future of One Direction as recording stars and concert artists was inevitable.
From Contest Hopefuls to Recoding Stars
Cowell signed One Direction a recording contract worth around USD 2 million under Syco Records. The recording label is a subsidiary of Syco Entertainment, a global joint venture between Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment. Furthermore, the band also became part of Modest Management, a London-based artists management company.
The band essentially had access to time-tested strategies to become superstars due to the years of experience of Cowell, especially in overseeing the development of artists and the expertise and connections of an established artist management company. Furthermore, under Syco Records and Sony Music Entertainment, the band had access to a pool of in-house and external creative artists who had provided them with materials and other resources to produce songs and albums.
Renowned LA-based record producer RedOne, for instance, had worked with One Direction to produce one of the singles in their debut album “Up All Night.” Other creative artists who have collaborated with One Direction included musician Ed Sheeran, pop superstar Kelly Clarkson, and pop-rock band lead Tom Fletcher.
The influence of Cowell and Syco Records also helped One Direction to launch their careers outside the United Kingdom and reach more audiences across the world through partnerships with other recording companies and distributors, including Columbia Records.
The Role of Social Media and the Digital Community
After the television series, the popularity of the band spread across U.K. and outside its borders. One Direction succeeded in replicating the success of monumental British pop acts such as The Beatles and Spice Girls. However, conquering the North American market, especially the United States, was an unexpected development.
The band became a hot item in the American music scene within a short period. It was surprising because the new millennium witnessed how British pop music artists and their managers struggling to penetrate the U.S. market.
It is also important to highlight the fact that the band is part of another wave of “British Invasion” in the U.S. music industry along with other artists to include Jessy J, Adele, Ed Sheeran, and Sam Smith. The receptibility toward One Direction could be attributed to the fact that boy bands had been Absent in the American music scene for years.
There was a renewed demand for a pop act. Social media played an essential role in making the five lads popular. Accordingly, during The X Factor, One Direction had a sizeable following that used social networking sites, particularly Twitter and Facebook, to promote the band. These fans flooded social media and the Internet with news about One Direction until several information about the band became viral. The fandom subsequently spread like wildfire in England and then into Ireland, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia.
Developments in digital communication and technology have created a truly connected world conducive to the quick and easy dissemination and consumption of information and contents. Social media, the Internet, and mobile communication have allowed people to become active consumers of these information and contents. For instance, in the case of One Direction, the band already had some online presence due to its emerging fandom from Britain. This made them more visible to Internet users.
Branding and Marketing One Direction
But any form of social media or digital marketing would be ineffective if not for the charisma of the five lads. One Direction needed little intervention regarding their branding and marketing, particularly during the early days of their career. Even during their stint at The X Factor, Cowell openly admitted that he just let the band do their own thing: from styling themselves to choosing their songs. Even the name of the band came from Styles.
It was possible that the media mogul intended to establish the individual characters of band members Styles, Payne, Tomlinson, Horan, and Malik. During the singing contests, thereby, the audience witnessed how each member revealed himself before the world.
Cowell and his team successfully packaged One Direction as a group of true-to-life and honest-to-goodness youngsters. They further revealed the personalities of Styles, Payne, Tomlinson, Horan, and Malik through television guesting, press conferences and media relations, social media engagement, and other public appearances. Unlike their predecessors, such as the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, there was no frontman in the band, coordinating outfits, and choreographed dancing.
What makes One Direction initially endearing was their playful and carefree demeanor. The five lads maintained a rowdy and energetic behavior. Even during their concerts or other public appearances, they were seen throwing crazy antics and pranks.
Letting the young boys be themselves helped establish the genuine and straightforward image of the band and draw them closer to the public. The audience perceived them as more realistic, relatable, and accessible than the manufactured images of other celebrities. This image appealed particularly to teenagers.
The musical style of One Direction is also worth mentioning. In a nutshell, the band has geared away from jumping into the electronic dance music bandwagon that influenced the pop music scene from 2011 to the early parts of 2017. Instead, they initially focused on teen pop to appeal to their teenage fans. However, as their musical artistry matured, One Direction absorbed elements of rock-inherited pop. Currently, their music became current but reminiscent of classic and energetic or soulful British 80s and 90s music that highlighted the vocal abilities and qualities of each member.
Managing One Direction as a Business and a Brand
There was more to One Direction than Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan. Like any other pop superstars, the band depended on the managerial expertise of their record label and talent management company. Syco Records and Modest Management handled all administrative requirements of the boy band to include public schedules, logistics, and accounting, among others.
Behind the five lads are a diverse group of professionals. These include a dedicated security group, road and tour managers, staff and personnel, stylists and makeup artists, musicians, record producers, creative artists, and television or film producers and creative, among others. It would be impossible to sustain the popularity and global presence of Styles, Payne, Tomlinson, Horan, and Malik without these people behind them.
Hence, when thinking of One Direction, it is important to think of them not just a brand or a product but more of a business unit under Syco Records and Modest Management. Globally influential celebrities and pop acts are always regarded and treated as a business unit with its own management team and personnel, plans and targets, and strategies.
There is a large machinery behind bigshot celebrities. Nevertheless, as both a business and a brand, One Direction generated revenues from record sales, concert tours, endorsements and brand partnerships, guesting and appearances, movies, publications, merchandises, and other royalties.
The Present Status and Future of One Direction
From 2011 to 2015, One Direction became a money-generating machine. There was a time when each member had a reported net worth of around USD 16 million, while Simon Cowell achieved a net worth of around USD 200 million. Furthermore, Sony revealed One Direction represents a USD 50 million business.
One Direction was technically not a billion-dollar boy band. Of course, if everything went according to plan, especially if album sales and ticket sales followed an upward trajectory, and if individual members did not express their intention to explore a career as solo performers, then it was highly likely that the band could bring in this massive amount of money.
The departure of Zayn Malik undeniably raised concerns about the future of the boy band. It marked the end of the record-breaking four-year run of One Direction. But boy bands have brief lifespans. Mainstream music is unpredictable, and consumer preference continues to change.
It is always possible that fans will outgrow the celebrities they follow. In the case of younger celebrities, note that the preference of their fans would change as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.
