Quote:
Originally posted by tell_me_a_lie
I don't understand why they flopped.  |
1D is the main reason for them flopping here.
As badly as they're doing in the UK, they're doing A LOT worse in the U.S. Obviously, 1D have has such a big negative impact on their careers over there. In the UK, 1D are a huge teen phenomenon (though not on Take That levels), but The Wanted have managed to have a sizable career of their own. In the U.S., however, 1D are even bigger than they are in their home country, and the Wanted got completely and utterly squashed by their rivals. And it's not just The Wanted who are being affected. Artists like Conor Maynard, The Vamps, and Union J are making a name for themselves in the UK, while their transatlantic equivalents like Austin Mahone, Emblem3, and Midnight Red are having a much harder time breaking out in America. I don't think there's any arguing that 1D are the catalyst for all these artists lack of success in the U.S.
All 3 of 1D's albums have debuted at #1 in the U.S. and no group has ever done this before 1D. In fact, Beyoncé is the only artist who has a longer streak of #1 debuts still intact to this day. DMX and Britney Spears had a longer streak that 1D, but both of those have been broken.
"Glad You Came" was the #1 most played song on Pop radio in the U.S. in 2012. Despite the big hit, "Chasing The Sun" stalled in the top 20, while "I Found You" and "We Own The Night" struggled to reach the top 40.
Let's look at 1D's singles. They had a big hit with "What Makes You Beautiful." While they haven't had another big Pop hit afterwards, they still were able to all go top 20. Here's a timeline of how the two songs competed with each other.
Spring 2012: "Glad You Came" and "What Makes You Beautiful" were huge pop hits for these previously unknown boy bands.
Summer 2012: "One Thing" and "Chasing The Sun" both take off quickly, but when general public interest starts to wane on boy bands, the two songs stall in the top 20.
Fall 2012: "Live While We're Young" and "I Found You" are released to pop radio. While the general public don't care about boy bands, 1D have a very large fanbase of teenage girls in the U.S., and most of them listen to pop radio stations. Therefore, "Live While We're Young" gets a sizable amount of airplay from pop radio stations, particularly appealing that particular group, but not too much airplay to alienate the rest of their listeners. The Wanted, on the other hand, have a very small American fanbase, one that is not large enough to make a sizable impact pop radio, so "I Found You" is ignored.
Even guys like Jason Derulo whose album sales are just as bad as The Wanted's. However, his music can appeal to the general public in ways that 1D and The Wanted cannot. Therefore, he is able to score sizable radio hits, even if they don't have huge sales.
The Wanted should be lucky that "Glad You Came" had U.S. radio support to begin with, as opposed to the tween/teen force that powered 1D. It was obvious from day one that "Glad You Came" was just another generic dance-floor song that overshadowed the artist. I think that many people were unaware that The Wanted were a boy band aside from articles where their name is mentioned alongside 1D as part of a boy band revival.
1D had hype for themselves long before "What Makes You Beautiful" became a monster hit. When it was first released on iTunes, it was already top 10 in less than a day. "Glad You Came," on the other hand, had to work its way from the bottom up.
When "Up All Night" was released, it debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 176,000 copies sold, a feat unheard of for a British band's debut album. That accomplishment pretty much guaranteed that they wouldn't be a one-hit wonder in the U.S. Then, The Wanted's EP came out, and it bombed at #7 with first week sales of 34,000. Even more embarrassing was the fact that 1D was #4 for that week, in its seventh week of release. That was pretty much the final nail in the coffin that 1D was well on their way to knocking Justin Bieber off his teen heartthrob throne, while The Wanted's time in the spotlight was almost up.
