Billboard’s On The Record podcast just pulled back the curtain on the boy band business, and it explains a lot. Jason Lipshutz stopped by to talk about his new One Direction book, A Whole Lotta History, and traced the modern boy band model all the way back to New Kids on the Block. Executives assembled unknown teens, handed them songs and choreography, and marketed the hell out of them with collectibles, action figures, and posters. The formula worked, but it came with a catch: boy bands are inherently ephemeral, and fans age out of the demographic within a few years.
That’s why so many groups disappear right when they’re peaking. Lipshutz points to BTS as the rare exception, a group that sustained fame well beyond the typical lifespan. Meanwhile, Backstreet Boys keep packing venues, which fits perfectly into the industry’s 20-year nostalgia cycle. As Lipshutz puts it, if you’re a boy band, stay in line, because your nostalgia moment is coming.
The episode also digs into how groups get formed and how labels monetize fandom, which is basically a crash course in why we all spent our allowance on posters. So which boy band do you think is next up for the revival treatment? Sound off in the comments.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.