Why does anyone still want to join a manufactured group?

[StrawberryBlond 15,839]

I'm just wondering because it seems like every attempt at doing this in the last few years has either struggled to get anywhere or have been dead on arrival. Simon Cowell's attempts at boybands post-1D like PrettyMuch and December10 made no noise at all and Katseye has still not put out an album despite them getting some international top 20's by now and being the biggest girl band in years. Besides the high likelihood that the group will flop, there are so many other downsides. Rehearsals are frequent and intense, you'll have very little free time to enjoy life and be young. You'll be given music to perform that you probably won't like but are forced to give it your all. You may not get along with your bandmates but will have to work with them everyday. Your image will be tightly controlled and you won't be able to dress how you like, say what you think or release when you want. You'll also make very little money of your own, the record labels take almost all of it. And let's face it, a lot of people are selected for these groups because they're not amazing enough on their own so they'd do better blending into a group and together, they make something special. It's a big insult when you think about it. According to what I've been told about new act Adéla, the reason why she was kicked off the first round of the Katseye group search despite being very talented was because she was deemed to be better suited to being a soloist. So that tells you that if you get selected, it wasn't because the judges thought you were exceptional, but just good enough to work well as part of something bigger.

This all amounts to all downsides, no upsides. The only possibility that remains is the fantasy of "This could just be the start of my career, the stepping stone to being a soloist. I'll just stick it out for a few years, build some name recognition and fanbase, then I'll quit and be the next big thing, just like Beyonce." But they fail to see that the soloist dream rarely works out. It sometimes only lasts for a short while (Geri Halliwell of The Spice Girls, Kelly Rowland from Destiny's Child, Camila Cabello of Fifth Harmony), is very localised success (Cheryl from Girls Aloud, Jade from Little Mix) or sometimes falls completely flat (Nicole Scherzinger from Pussycat Dolls, Victoria Beckham from The Spice Girls, Normani from Fifth Harmony, Jesy Nelson from Little Mix). And that's not an exhaustive list. And those are just the girl bands. The boybands have even less chance. Harry Styles is the only true success story from 1D and apart from Justin Timberlake, who else can you name who made it?

All in all, what are these young people looking for by signing up for this chance in this day and age when manufactured groups have never been more old-fashioned and we're aware of all the drawbacks? 

[RAMROD 118,653]

Money and fame. People don't like regular jobs, and want the fastest way to get rich, especially someone at impressionable age like teenagers and young adult. That's how influencers are now a thing as well. 

[bxr 4,004]

  

Edited September 21 by bxr

[LG10 14,272]

Fame. I’ll sell my soul for fame and money bb

[SavetheEarthNow 311]

Maybe with the return of MySpace people will have a better chance of getting noticed for their music and don't have to resort to going on a show looking for boybands or girl groups. 

[MonsterVoices 65]

How is Nicole Scherzinger's carreer "falling flat" lol?

[StrawberryBlond 15,839]

13 hours ago, MonsterVoices said:

How is Nicole Scherzinger's carreer "falling flat" lol?

Her planned debut album got shelved as the music flopped so bad, her music never took off in America (only 2 songs ever charted) and her success in the UK lasted all of one album and she hasn't put out anything since her second album in 2014. There's a reason she's not tried to put out singles since then and has gone back to a PCD reunion. By "fell flat," I mean that she was sold as someone who was going to be the next big thing and the public didn't think she lived up to the hype.