Liam - Supplemental Post #5


    I wanted to respond and build on some of the ideas presented in Diana's supplemental post about One Direction, specifically with how the boy band and subsequent death of the genre was essentially perfected by One Direction. The Boy Band as a concept is all about construction and presentation, the most hyper curated pop music perfectly crafted by a record label to sell records and stadiums. There's an interesting relationship between the acting careers of members of boy bands and their role as popular artists. I think in our conversation about Beyonce, Taylor and Madonna, each of the respective "big three" still maintain a certain level of risk for a record label, where a boy band is a perfectly curated money making machine that often remain as controlled and controversy free as humanly possible. The boy band is effectively big corporate music's way of insuring massive success, which makes failed projects all the more interesting. King of the Hill has a great episode about them, and I agree with Diana that it's interesting to track each of the solo careers of the members, especially those like Liam who haven't seen even a modicum of success that someone like Harry Styles has. I think they've done a good job moving away from the construction element of the group, and their ties to people like Simon Cowell, who was instrumental in the creation of the initial group. 

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