“1DAF”......................................................McNeely

By Gracie McNeely

This article does not exalt or support One Direction’s music style or form in any shape whatsoever. I want to get that out there so you don’t flip the page while rolling your eyes. I don’t think One Direction is the best band in the world—far from it, actually. Yes, I have all four deluxe albums, have watched This Is Us (their documentary) multiple times, own the autobiography and its audiobook and yes, ok, yeah I bought a shirt. Whatever. I like them a lot. But instead of talking about their music, I’m going to talk about their popularity. Even if you’ve never heard one of their songs, even if you’ve never seen a picture of any of them, you have probably heard of the band One Direction. They have become so popular in just four years, and I keep wondering why. If you haven’t heard of them, let me give you the backstory.

X-FACTOR

In 2010, all five members of One Direction— Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson—auditioned for The X Factor (Britain’s version of American Idol, essentially). At the time, they were between the ages of 16 and 18, all dreaming of becoming successful artists. In my opinion, all of their auditions sucked (except for Liam’s). They were put through regardless, probably because of their looks, charm, and potential. Eventually, they were all cut after the second round of performances in the “Boys” category (solo male contestants). Simon Cowell, allegedly then made a decision “in about 10 minutes. Why don’t we put these five boys into a group?” Soon after, One Direction formed, performing only covers on the show, such as “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay and “Forever Young” by Alphaville. When they reached the finals, they were defeated by Rebecca Ferguson, which, supposedly, meant the end for the band. Let’s rewind a little bit. While the boys journeyed on The X Factor, their fan base kept increasing. Thanks to social media, boyband-crazed fans would tweet pictures and videos, they’d update their blogs and made it their obsession. After their very first performance on The X Factor, crowds of girls swarmed outside of the studio, waiting to catch a glimpse of the five boys. Cowell states in their documentary, This Is Us, “I thought at the time, ‘This is unusual. This just doesn’t happen after one performance.’” With the help of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and every other social media platform, the group of devoted One Direction fans then spread throughout Europe, bringing the United States along with them, and eventually infected the entire world. By mid-2011, people around globe were obsessed with One Direction, and they had yet to release a record.

One Direction lose to Rebecca Ferguson on the finale of The X Factor (2010). From left to right: Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Simon Cowell, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Harry Styles.

Ok, I’m getting off track. In September 2011, they released “What Makes You Beautiful” and shit hit the fan. In November 2011, they released their debut album titled Up All Night and began their global tour in December. The album became number one in ten countries in just a week after its release, including the US, making One Direction the first UK group in US chart history to become number one with their debut album. Keep in mind, this is quantity, not quality. I’m not saying their album was amazing (in fact, Up All Night is pretty awful compared to their other three albums), but it sold really well.

In November 2012, they released their second album, Take Me Home. It topped the charts in 35 countries. The original dates for their Take Me Home Arena Tour sold out in hours—around 1,000 tickets a minute—so they added more dates, totaling 129 shows spanning from February to November 2013. Three weeks later, they released their third album, Midnight Memories—surprise!—topping the charts once again and becoming the first group to debut at number one with its first three albums, making Billboard 200 history. In April 2014, they commenced their third tour, the Where We Are Stadium Tour, and became the first artists to sell out the Rose Bowl Stadium, and did so three times in a row. In November 2014, they released their fourth album, cleverly titled FOUR (yes, including the underline), jumping to number one on iTunes in 67 countries. They will be going on their fourth tour, also brilliantly titled On the Road Again Tour starting this February.

London’s O2 Arena during One Direction’s Take Me Home Tour in 2013, which drew crowds of about 20,000 people.

WHAT’S YOUR POINT?

If you’re still with me, thank you! I know One Direction is labeled as a “boy band” which a lot of people disapprove of because it’s considered mainstream or childish. After falling in love with each of the boys, I wondered why I was so obsessed with them (personally, I’m a sucker for Niall—that Irish accent). For starters it was their looks and charm. Even if you are so absolutely repulsed by the male sex, you can’t deny that these boys are at least a little bit cute. But as I fell deeper and deeper into the black hole that is 1DAF , I realized that I’m simply impressed by not only the five members of One Direction, but also their marketing team. With their actual talent, involvement in the songwriting process, hard work, and how they market the band, I can’t help but respect One Direction, their producers, and marketers for doing their jobs well. When I first discovered the band, I thought, “Yes, they’re charming and pretty, but it’s probably all mixed really well or altered so they sound better than they actually are.” I hadn’t known they were on The X Factor until I googled them. As it turns out, they can actually sing live—and decently, I should say. This is something that boy bands in the 1990s and early 2000s had some trouble with. The five members didn’t begin breathtakingly, but after some vocal coaching, most critics agree that the boys have talent (we can discuss Louis’ timbre another day). What’s also interesting is that the five members are taking more initiative in the songwriting process, now. Boybands are notoriously known for being very produced and controlled—their looks, their songs, their interviews, etc. One Direction has vowed to be more genuine, and Liam has even stated that the guys played a larger part in the songwriting process for their newest album, FOUR. This type of persona—“we’re down-to-Earth,” “we’re normal guys,” “we have quirky characteristics” — is the band’s way of diverging from the typical boyband narrative and is more than likely encouraged, if not started, by

their marketing team. Zayn puts it so eloquently in their documentary: “When people say, ‘You’re in a boyband,’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I am, but I’m in a cool boyband.’ So I’m like, okay, whatevs.” They are also churning out albums ridiculously fast, while balancing tours, promotions, and time for themselves. Four albums and four tours in four years? You don’t have to like their music to admit that’s pretty impressive, if not, exhausting. You may have heard some critics or media sources compare them to The Beatles. Obviously, and even One Direction knows this, they are not talking about their musical style. The Beatles are exponentially better musically than 1D, in many people’s opinions (including my own). What they are comparing is the trans-atlantic success both bands underwent in just four years. I also believe the marketing team deserves more recognition than they receive. They aren’t just some boy band that became popular randomly—they’re the underdogs. They all got cut. They formed a band. The band got cut. But they pursued their dreams! And the fans were with them the entire time. Cue hopeful music. They’re not even just the underdogs. They are underdogs that came from working-class families, so they actually have some knowledge about the world outside of fame, and it gives their fans something else to relate to, highlighting their down-toearth persona. The marketing team also knows how to manipulate their main demographic: females ages 16-68. Their merchandise ranges from One Direction duvet covers to One Direction bikes to One Direction soda cans. One of their

smartest decisions, however, was the group’s most recent music video, “Night Changes.” The entire video depicted what it would be like to go on a date with each member of the band. For Zayn, it’s a nice dinner at an elegant restaurant, for Liam, it’s a fun night at a carnival, for Louis, a drive in a classic convertible, for Niall, a sweet serenade in a log cabin, and finally, for Harry, a charming escapade to the ice rink. Something comical goes wrong on each of these dates, emphasizing the song’s lyric that, “Even when the night changes / It will never change me and you.” Every Directioner has a favorite member, and through Zayn Malik and Niall Horan in the “Night Changes” video this video, they can personally experience boys’ looks and charm, even if it’s for a small amount of time. That’s a pretty brilliant move on the marketing team’s part. They certainly know what they’re doing. I don’t expect you to like One Direction now. I don’t expect you to respect them now or suddenly want to listen to their music. If there is one thing I’d like you to take away from this article it’s the group’s impressive achievements. They may not have the best albums out there, but they work hard, respect and appreciate their fans wholeheartedly, and absolutely love what they’re doing. While I’m thoroughly impressed with what they have accomplished in such a short amount of time and at such a young age, I also love their music because it’s really fucking fun to dance to and they’re super duper cute. That’s why I’m 1D AF. After successfully taking over the Earth, the boys Formatting and Graphics are blasting off. by Roberto Nieves