What happened to girl groups and boy bands?

[₫anny Jerz ♔]

It's literally been years since we've had a significant girl group or boy band come along. Granted, I understand there not being any boy bands since they're not 'cool' or whatever but what about girl groups? What was the last girl group to really have a hit? Danity Kane? PCD? That was years ago. Before that you have to reach back to the days of Destiny's Child.

So why have they fizzled out? I can't think of a single group that is popular at the moment - male or female.

Are there really no good groups out there in America? Thoughts, comments, etc.

[Wavey✨️]

There's two I recall that should be so popular in their respective fields,but can't get a hit no matter how hard they tried:
Electrik Red(R&B)
RichGirl(Pop/R&B)

I think really its the promotion that labels put in.

[out of reach]

I think it's because they are kinda gimmicky. When they become popular the individuals usually want to go solo.

[ListenToItTwice]

May 5, 2011 14:43:38 GMT -5 out of reach said:

I think it's because they are kinda gimmicky.

That's probably true. They're hard to take seriously.

[Deleted]

Are solo artists generally more profitable for labels?

[Fat Ass Kelly Price]

Diddy fucked up Danity Kane. #stillmad #bitterAF

[jamrock16]

I was thinking about this the other day. It's crazy to think how many succesful groups there were in the 80's and 90's but nowadays it's like there's only solo artists out there. BEP is one of the only succesful mainstream groups stateside (obviously they're not a girl group or boy band though). They've lasted a while too.

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

Young! hot!

and wet!

---

I miss Danity Kane :'(

[.indulgecountry]

I love Big Time Rush. <3333

[Wavey✨️]

^Well yeah,they're virtually the only boy band out that is actually doing good,it think their album is close to 500,000 sold.
And just to think that this band was gonna be a Tv Show band...

[LoveKiller]

May 5, 2011 15:10:20 GMT -5 Fat Ass Kelly Price said:

Diddy and Dawn ;) f**ked up Danity Kane. #stillmad #bitterAF

Also, I really can't take Big Time Rush seriously. Some of their material is okay but there's no real artistry or innovation there. I think PCD is the most recent huge group. DK was big but not to the level that they were.

[Eqbk]

A lot of female groups seem to break up due to disputes w/in the group and general drama like in the case of 3LW, Spice Girls, PCD, etc. Even though Destiny's Child didn't break up, they also went through quite a bit of drama. The Supremes, who helped set the standard for girl groups, had a history filled w/ drama.

Most boy bands are catered to the preteen and teenage girls demographic, who are notoriously fickle and eventually move on from them so the boy band just simply fades.

There will always be girl groups/boy bandds and I'm sure a couple will eventually have some mainstream success in the future as they have in the past like PCD, Danity Kane, Jonas Brothers, etc. But they likely won't last long enough for the above reasons.

[esoteric76]

The Saturdays give me everything I need for now.

[Lockheart]

'cause girl groups and boy bands break up eventually 'cause some selfish bitch wants to steal all the spotlight

[Wavey✨️]

I can honestly say that I would never steal the spotlight if I was in the group.
I would shine where I was at.

[Dielawn]

Maybe there isnt a real reason, maybe just none of them lately have come out with the right song. Can you imagine if big time rush came out with More instead of Usher?? Theres no way it wouldnt have been a hit with the right marketing IMO.


Also it should be noted that the UK went through a period of time after the teen pop era ended (2003-late 00's) when boy bands were not in style and they are now completely back overseas, yet they still haven't come back over here. It is a little perplexing. I hope NKOTBSB can smash with "Dont turn out the lights" cuz that ish is hottt!

[edrivegirlincali]

May 5, 2011 15:01:43 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

Are solo artists generally more profitable for labels?

I don't know about that, but a few years back the Nashville Scene had an article about the dying out of bands in country music. The general consensus of the article was:

1. Solo artists don't have the threat of breaking up due to personality clashes and disagreements.
2. Bands cost more to promote because instead of buying 2 plane tickets, you need 5-7 (artist and manager) tickets to get them to radio tours.
3. Solo artists don't deal with the jealousy that sometimes occurs within bands.

Basically the article boiled down to bands are a bigger gamble and a more costly endeavor. If you google hard enough, I'm sure you can find it. While the article deals specifically with the Nashville music business, I can see it relating to any genre. Fall Out Boy is one example of a successful group that just couldn't get along any mroe so they called it quits.

[shawnshamrock]

May 5, 2011 15:10:20 GMT -5 Fat Ass Kelly Price said:

Diddy f**ked up Danity Kane. #stillmad #bitterAF

Some of us are still mad with how he F**ked up DREAM!

[ificanthaveyou]

May 6, 2011 12:20:59 GMT -5 Lockheart said:

'cause girl groups and boy bands break up eventually 'cause some selfish bitch wants to steal all the spotlight

Sadly, people's egos get in the way. Why split tour and merch $$$ five ways when you can have it all to yourself. Justin Timberlake and Beyonce are a perfect example of cutting the fat and maxing out their profits. Sucks at a personal level, but on a business level those were great moves.

[halo19]

Could it be that sometimes it's more fashionable and at others it's not so much? Sometimes what's "in" tends to kind of change over time. *NSYNC were from around a time when being in a boy band wasn't bad, so that helped them sell bunches, and they quit kind of at the correct time. Using one example.

[Deleted]

^^^ Yeah, generally groups (boy bands in particular) are a cyclical trend, subject to whatever genre is popular at the moment. It just happens that they've been 'out' of fashion for longer than normal so the lull is much more noticeable now than it normally would be. Bands/groups breaking up isn't the issue here, as they break up all the time for generally the same reasons (egos and petty jealousy, personality clashes, lead singer going solo, eventual falling out of favor with the public). The issue is that there haven't been any new groups lately to replace them.

There was about a seven year gap between NKOTB's end and BSB/*NSync's beginnings in the US (I'm not counting NK's '94 album because it flopped). In that seven years various rock subgenres, the 90's version of electro-pop, MOR AC, and some crossover of r&b were dominating the radio so there wasn't really any space for a pop male group on the charts. In retrospect it's kind of a miracle a boy band managed to break through at all; BSB's first attempt in the US market was actually in '95, and they stalled at #69 on the Hot 100 (to be fair "We've Got It Goin' On" sucks compared to their other much better singles). But something had to give sooner or later, so when BSB and *NSync finally scored, they scored BIG and it ushered in a wave of fun bubblegum pop that lasted for about five or six years. We're basically going through the same thing again, where after the bubblegum faded other genres took over. This isn't to say that NO pop act was successful, but with urban/hip-hop, pop-rock, corporate rock, and now electro-pop taking turns dominating the past ten-eleven years, there again just hasn't been much space on the radio or charts for a purely pop (but not electro-pop) male act. It's now been over ten-eleven years since *NSync's last album and BSB's last huge album (though BSB has been making music steadily over the past decade). Something is going to give eventually, and when it does it is probably going to be as explosive, if not moreso, than BSB and *NSync.

The lack of girl groups is the one that surprises me more - we usually don't even get a gap between girl groups, as there is at least one solidly selling one around for any given period of time no matter what style of music is currently most popular. Females seem to be more adaptable when it comes to changing trends because they don't have to worry about being too 'soft.' or not masculine enough. But we haven't had a dominant girl group since PCD and Danity Kane's debuts in '05 and 06, respectively. Their 2008 follow-ups didn't sustain that, but more because of problems within the groups than because of the music not fitting. (I'm STILL salty that Puff Diddly-Slag sabotaged DK...he really cannot stand the idea of any act on his label being as or more successful than he is. It's really pathetic.) Anyway, that's five-six years now without a girl group as well. That's like an eternity! If electro pop continues to oversaturate radio then I kind of understand why we go longer without a male group breaking through, but we're long overdue for some harmonizing ladies.

As for bands (members playing instruments), they are usually rock or soft-rock, so again it comes down to trends. Rock in general hasn't been so popular in the mainstream since the mid-00's.

One of the reasons I'm interested in the US X-Factor this year is because they allow groups. I know in the UK no X-Factor group has ever won or gone on to much success afterward, but I'm wondering if this might be how a good pop-friendly group (or even an r&b or r&b-pop group) finally manages to break up the drought in the US.



Note: I didn't address successful male r&b groups here because generally, they just capitalized on r&b crossing over at the time. Examples are Color Me Badd, All-4-One, 112, and Jagged Edge, and in each case one might argue that they really just crossed over with a few songs each rather than being considered a solidly-selling pop-r&b act like some of their female-group counterparts.

[tico]

May 31, 2011 4:53:04 GMT -5 @cynthiarose said:

^^^ Yeah, generally groups (boy bands in particular) are a cyclical trend, subject to whatever genre is popular at the moment.

That's what I was gonna say. At the same time, it's been nearly a decade since a bona fide hit from a boy band hit the charts. You normally don't see a gap that long. Sure, the Jonas Brothers were huge, but have very little to show for it in terms of radio success.

[Deleted]

The concept was outsourced to Japan.




No really, so many big boy bands and girl groups over there still.

[Bluemargay]

I don't consider the Jonas Brothers a boy band. They did play instruments.

[Minor Scratch]

There is always a star out of the bunch that leaves the rest hanging. Or two stars out of the bunch. Its almost impossible to put together a bunch of equally great talent and hope for it to last without a breakout star.

[spooky21]

Jun 6, 2011 21:31:22 GMT -5 @tico said:

May 31, 2011 4:53:04 GMT -5 @cynthiarose said:

^^^ Yeah, generally groups (boy bands in particular) are a cyclical trend, subject to whatever genre is popular at the moment.

That's what I was gonna say. At the same time, it's been nearly a decade since a bona fide hit from a boy band hit the charts. You normally don't see a gap that long. Sure, the Jonas Brothers were huge, but have very little to show for it in terms of radio success.

JLS was massive in the UK after their X Factor debut.

[discoloser]

Spice Girls, had too much inside drama+health issues going on. From Geri quitting, to Mel B/Victoria getting married quickly, Mel C's depression. I think they were doomed from the begining. But i think they serve as a perfect example for girlgroups and why they havn't worked.

Although they are still in touch constantly, we havn't seen an proper album in years, probably for the reasons they didn't last.

I do agree with one poster. If it's "cool" it will be cool again, if its not it's not. Pop music (especially in uSA) is very fickle.

[Hefty Hanna]

Yeah, in America they are a thing of the past atm, but the Korean K-Pop groups are huge in Asia right now.

[Deleted]

They got old

[No Brake$]

Just wait for US X-Factor. I'm almost to the point where I would be willing to take bets that one of the biggest holiday albums will be from a group created by the x-factor. It really just sounds like free money for Simon Cowell, it's a market that's just waiting to be filled. Especially with the death of Pop Emo, it's such a void that doesn't exist, it's just a matter of time. It's funny, because if you look at the charts 10 years ago, I would say about a third to half the artists were boy bands or teenage girls.