Yet as streaming services eat away at the audience for television, particularly among the young, even television seems like less of a sure road to music stardom. It’s telling that Fifth Harmony, One Direction, and the Jonas Brothers came to the industry only after having gained great visibility through television: 5H and 1D were forged on The X-Factor while the Jonases were graduates of the Disney Channel. Even if a group is loaded into the catapult, there’s no way to ensure that it hits its mark. Though the industry remains powerful by objective standards, its ability to dictate tastes has fallen off considerably due to the internet. It follows that the relative weakening of the music industry over the past two decades has dampened the prospects for aspiring boy bands and girl groups, plus their managers. The members’ contribution to their own artistic direction is secondary all considerations of quality are tied to market appeal. With the partial exception of family-based units like the Jonas Brothers or 98 Degrees, its chemistry has always been entirely artificial, and the rise to stardom of any given group is rarely organic. Pop groups have always been ephemeral by nature, but it’s not impossible that the pop group itself, as a general format, is no longer viable.įew types of acts have been more reliant on the music industry than the pop group. Along with One Direction, Fifth Harmony had been the defining pop group of its generation the end of both in the last three years now raises questions about what could follow them. Today the quartet announced that it would be suspending operations until further notice. Meanwhile, the remainder of Fifth Harmony has taken Cabello’s acrimonious parting rather less well. Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé are the classic examples, but the most recent instance is that of Camila Cabello, who struck out from Fifth Harmony to achieve even greater success on her own. Fame magnifies imbalances in talent and, as intramural tensions grow, the allure of a solo career becomes irresistible. Sometimes the group just runs out of steam: Witness the fate of the Spice Girls, who sank out of sight almost as rapidly as they’d risen. Lou Pearlman, the former manager for Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, and virtually every boy band in the ’90s ended up being sued by most of the groups he managed for gross financial chicanery. The management can be so corrupt that it’s intolerable, for one. Even when the pieces fit, the blowup is inevitable. Group acts in pop have always been unstable compounds.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |