Originally Posted by zeze88:
“While I do agree with you that it is hard to compare these boybands you mentioned with 1D but I don't necessarily agree 1D are bigger globally than them. You just can't know that as there wasn't any social media, iTunes or even Youtube at the time when Take That or Westlife dominated.”
You only have to look at the chart positions of One Direction's albums to see that they are bigger worldwide than Westlife and Take That. Neither of them has had several albums hit number one in most countries around the world nor did they break the U.S. market (Take That have had one top 10 hit on the BB Hot 100). Westlife and Take That were/are more popular in the UK than One Direction, but they're not worldwide, not a chance.
Originally Posted by zeze88:
“In fact, it is safe to say that in the 90's/early 00's, the amount of album and single sales were the real measure of your success.”
Westlife has sold 50 million records worldwide in 16 years, but One Direction has sold the same amount of records in four years and when album sales are a lot lower than the 1990s/early 2000s. Westlife have also released a lot more albums and singles than One Direction. Take That has sold 45 million records in 23 years.
Take That and Westlife's worldwide sales are relatively small compared to the Backstreet Boys. They were a true global boyband. Take That's highest selling studio album (Nobody Else, 1995) has sold six million copies worldwide whereas Backstreet Boy's highest selling studio album (Millennium, 1999) has sold 30 million copies worldwide.
One Direction's highest selling album (Up All Night, 2011) has sold five million copies worldwide. The fact that One Direction's debut album has sold nearly as many copies as Take That's highest selling album - and at time when album sales are lower than the 1990s - is proof that Take That were not as big worldwide as you think they are.
One Direction has record sales to back up their online popularity. I understand that people in the 1990s/early 2000s couldn't download one track on iTunes or Amazon like people can now, but One Direction has sold 50 million records worldwide, that's a great achievement in 2015 just like it was 15/20 years ago. Their tours are huge all around the world, their current one grossed over $100m in its first four months.
Originally Posted by zeze88:
“IYou can't possibly know how different would all be if social media and iTunes were present during Westlife's and Take That's time - looking at how huge their sales were, they would have probably been just as big as 1D are now. It is just that, back than you had album signings, newspaper interviews, fan mail and sales - you simply couldn't exactly see the whole hoopla now that it is easily present with the VEVO breaking records, Twitter trends and whatnot.”
If One Direction were around in the late 1990s when the popularity of teen pop music went through the roof, I bet they would have sold triple the number of albums they are selling now.
Originally Posted by zeze88:
“IAnd I don't agree it is such a huge deal that maybe 1D members as individuals are also popular - I much prefer that the band as a whole is recognized, who cares about their private lives. Thats the one thing I actually loved about Westlife, that they always came as a band, as one, there were no major scandals or gossip around them, it was about their success.”
One Direction has social media and the internet to battle with nowadays. The media world and music industry are different compared to the 1990s and early 2000s. A story about One Direction can make the news all around the world in a matter of seconds. Take That and Westlife didn't have to deal with that when they were at their peak.
Mark Owen has said that it's a good thing Take That were at their peak in the 1990s when Facebook, Instagram and Twitter weren't around. He said the band were able to experiment with drugs and sleep around without any of it getting out. Westlife are as boring as their music. The only scandal was when Brian left the band. Pensioners adore them and their stools.