Throughout the 2010s, and the many years leading up to it, boy bands were prominent figures in the music industry. Girls fawned over the attractive members, and they created decent music, so why would they not be popular? Bands like One Direction, Five Seconds of Summer, *NSYNC, The Backstreet Boys, and even The Beatles helped define different areas of the “boy band” genre.

However, following suit of the recent rise of girl groups, boy bands have not found much success in their ventures. Simon Cowell, the man who claimed to have created the extremely successful boy band, One Direction, recently took to creating a second boy band, only to be made fun of by fans. He called the band “December 10,” “D10” for short, and fans began to speculate about the similarities between them and One Direction, “1D” for short.

Why are we recreating something that lost popularity over 10 years ago? Cowell is taking this new knockoff of his old success, and reusing the formula that got One Direction so incredibly popular. Unfortunately for him, that whole vibe lost popularity for a reason. Back then, people began to feel as though the songs boy bands were pumping out were lacking vulnerability. While the vibes might still be fun and uplifting, the listeners wanted a better sense of relatability that they were not getting. 

The boy band songs being produced today have the same issue. They bleed “manufactured” rather than authenticism, and listeners are again left wanting more. Maybe it is just the writers hired to work with the bands, but the fact that the songs have not really changed in the last decade says a lot. Fans are bored.

Bands like Five Seconds of Summer though have been pulling a Taylor Swift and creating more rock-infused music to stray away from the stigma of the boy band vibe. They are not trying to gain new fans with their reappearance. They are just trying to make the music they always wanted to, and that love pours out into their latest album, “EVERYONE’S A STAR!” 

It is becoming evidently more clear that the only way to be successful in the boy band drama is just to reunite bands that were previously broken up, and the chances of that actually happening are extremely slim. So many former band members have spoken out about how much they hated working in their respective bands, so why would we actively support and listen to new ones? 

The only reason bands get back together nowadays is on their own terms, so we know we are not supporting any behind the scenes suspicious activity.

However, with these new bands we have such little information, and do not know the conditions members are forced into. So with the previously understood horrors in mind, few people are actually going to continue to throw money and love at new bands who might be suffering under their management. With all of this in mind, why are boy bands making a comeback in the first place?

Some believe that the boy bands era is over and others hope that such an era would never end. As a growing One Direction fan who fell in love with the band a little too late myself, I believe boy bands should have a comeback. 

Within the music industry it is important that not only singers and songwriters with amazing talent earn credit, but their fans and raving supporters do, too. After all, fans run the industry. They bring insane support and money that keeps the industry going.

Demode magazine says, ”The success of boy bands is inextricably linked to their fan culture, which is characterized by passionate, dedicated, and organized communities. Fans, often referred to by specific names such as Directioners (One Direction) or ARMY (BTS), play a pivotal role in promoting their favorite bands through social media, fan projects, and concert attendance.”

Fans deserve to get what they want, a return of boy bands. 

The music industry has gotten bigger and richer as time has gone on. Money has always been an important factor and continues to be. There is a rising market demand for boy bands to return. In this case, not only would the revival of boy bands make fans happy, but it would build the music industry even more. 

Lately, the big rising genre in music has been K-pop, and with that many various boy bands have come about. Not only should boy bands make a comeback, but they already are. 

Of course, with the rise of K-pop and boy bands within that large umbrella, the comeback of boy bands would mean a lot to fans other than just Directioners like myself.  

For those who do not know, each One Direction member went on X factor separately and oddly enough to many of us who know them all as very talented, when they each performed alone they were not seen as great. Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger had the idea to put all five of them together. There is a reason they came out as one big group. Yes, they are all talented separately, but there was just something special about them when they were put together.

If you do not fancy the idea of boy bands, at least be grateful for what comes out of them. Think of artists such as Harry Styles. He would never be where he is today without the spark from One Direction. It was important for fans to build their love for him the way they were able to through the band. Who says we should not repeat that?

The era of boy bands was so great with such success that many reunions are in place. That is how important boy bands have been to the industry. 

Boy bands should make a comeback for the sake of their ever-so-supporting fans and for the growth of the music industry as a whole. 

There is only One Direction to go back to, the era of boy bands.