Harry Styles: Every Piece of Me by Louisa Jepson

Author:Louisa Jepson [Jepson, Louisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471128493
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘We simply cannot believe that we are number one in America’

Cracking the American market is something all pop stars aspire too. Back in the 1960s, The Beatles invaded America and British rock and roll took the US by storm. In 1986, British artists like Duran Duran and Wham! accounted for almost a third of all records sold in the US. By 2002 just 5 per cent of music bought in the US came from artists signed in other countries – and UK stars are finding it harder and harder to make an impression across the massive nation.

Simon Cowell had started making plans for the boys to try and make it big in the States and had flown them to New York to meet record companies while they filmed the video for ‘What Makes You Beautiful’. In November 2011, they signed a deal in North America with Columbia Records, home to Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen. Steve Barnett, the co-chairman, said that it wasn’t a ‘difficult decision’ to sign the boys and while other boybands were slightly older, he thought there might be a gap in the market for them to succeed.

It was announced that they would support American boy-band Big Time Rush on their Better With U tour in their bid to crack the States. The tour would start in February 2012 and run through to the following month and 1D would release ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ on Valentine’s Day and Up All Night in March.

Big Time Rush is a TV series on Nickelodeon about four hockey players who are selected to be in a boyband. It had the highest-rated live-action series debut and the group have sold thousands of records. A statement from One Direction read: ‘We can’t wait to hit the road with them in the US and having never been to New York before, the Radio City show is one we are all incredibly excited about!’

One Direction had picked a good time to compete in the US charts, with the likes of ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys no longer around. Harry acknowledged the gap in the market, telling the BBC: ‘I think for quite a while you know there weren’t a lot of boybands even in the UK. I don’t think there has been a massive boyband time recently.’

New Kids on the Block were less convinced that they would have success stateside. ‘Even though the UK and England are big, it still sort of has a small town feel,’ Joey McIntyre told Metro. ‘That’s why you guys love your artists so much but boybands are so personality driven that sometimes it’s about connecting with that and if the American girls don’t connect with that swagger, it’s hard.’

The power of social media meant they already had a head start and as soon as they touched down on American soil they had a visible and strong fan base. Thanks to the social media platforms of Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Tumblr fans felt they were already

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