What's going on with boybands? Why are they so popular?

Julia Orłowska
Dec 13, 2022
3 min read

I think the first thing, that comes to mind, when we hear the term "boyband" are screaming girls, obsessed with young, handsome singers in the '90s and '00s, yeah... I don't think any other singers can boast of such crazy fanbases. But, what is a boyband?

Wikipedia defines it as "a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation, singing love songs marketed towards girls". Some of the most popular boybands are: One Direction, BTS, The Beatles and Backstreet Boys.

The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group popular in the 1930s and 1940s.

Origins

First, a boyband-like group was formed at the end of the XIX century in the African American diaspora as an acappella barbershop quartet. Later in the '40s and '50s, boybands became popular thanks to doo-wop music. One of the first "boybands" was The Ink Spots. (The word "boyband" will appear and be used in the '80s to describe the Beatles as some considered them to be the "original boyband").

The Beatles pose for a photograph taken by Tommy Hanley at the Odeon Cinema in Luton on 6 September 1963

What made the Beatles so special?

In Georgina Gregory's opinion rejecting the aggressive, individualistic masculine mode of performance typically seen in rock and roll at the time was the main key. "Soft masculinity", showing the emotional aspect of men's identity paved the way for greater openness among men. They showed that men can feel the same emotions as women.

What are the characteristics of boybands?

They should be good-looking. (A lot of boys in the '90s were elected to boybands because they were attractive)
According to the words of Louis Walsh - manager of 4 successful boybands, there should be 5 members, because it "gave people just enough to look at".
You need 5 different looks: the blonde, the dark, the cheeky, the champ, and the macho. Walsh wanted to include something for everyone :) This way every member of the group appeals to the audience.
They need to act mature.
They should have a close friendship, presenting brotherhood.

This is the recipe for success.

Struggles

Paul Morley in "The Guardian" wrote "Boy bands should not be talked about as though they are anything to do with music, or music alone. " However, on the contrary, musicians and artists are put under a lot of pressure in the name of "music". T.O.P. before his debut in Big Bang-one of the most crucial K-pop group was made to lose 20kg in 40 days by only eating unsweetened jelly, red beans, and drinking mineral water. This can seem unbelievable and fictional, however, he was under a lot of pressure to change his appearance. Who cares about health?

A good example of how important appearance is in the music industry is band Take That. One of members -Gary Barlow at one point in his career had BMI above average. When Mr. Cowell was offered to manage the band he said, "Fire the fat one, and I'll sign the band." At the time, Take That dolls went on sale, the Gary doll was given free for purchasing another doll. It was thought, no girl would like to spend money on him. Boys bands also have to deal with overworking.

There is so much to say about the problems surrounding groups in the music industry. Let's just add that groups like Backstreet Boys had to work 18 hours a day and they were so tired, they weren't even able to critically think about the contracts, they were signing. On the other hand, the K-pop band- TVXQ was made to sign a "slave contract", which gave them an increase in salary of about 0.5% over 5 years, despite 500 000 people buying their albums.