Singles wise, they do just fine on sales but it's radio that's their downfall. Only What Makes You Beautiful and Story of My Life have made any kind of splash there, so whilst several other singles of theirs debuted high, they had barely any longevity because radio didn't play them enough in comparison to their sales.

It's not a long drought at all, actually Charli XCX was at number 1 just 3 months ago with 'Fancy' with Iggy Azalea...

 

The last #1 by a British act as the lead artist was Adele's 'Set Fire To The Rain' though (I think).

Yeah, the Hot 100 isn't the best measure for boy-band/teen-pop success, as they traditionally don't do as well as on the album charts. Like JosephCarey said it's down to radio – radio programmers are loath to give teen pop acts much of a chance unless a song somehow translates well beyond their core demographics. But 1D have had four straight number-one albums, sold-out tours, etc., and even forgetting the numbers they certainly still are a formidable presence.

Edited December 22, 201410 yr by dhwe

I'd consider them successful when they get a US #1 single. Otherwise I find their US moderately successful. And upfront.

 

That's ridiculous imo.

 

Firstly only like 10 songs get to #1 each year, so it's extremely difficult, I think using #1 hits as a barometer for "success" is a bit extreme (by this logic Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, etc. aren't successful in the US, when clearly they are. Secondly, What Makes You Beautiful was more successful chart-wise than some #1s, it might as well count as a #1 tbh.

Edited December 24, 201410 yr by Eric_Blob

BSB never had a #1 single in the US. They are still the biggest boyband of all time.

Edited December 24, 201410 yr by Euphorique

BSB never had a #1 single in the US. They are still the biggest boyband of all time.

 

*NSYNC may argue with that (don't they have both of the two fastest selling albums of all time in the US?)

From my understanding, part of the reason why NSYNC and BSB never seemed to match their album chart success on the Hot 100 is that, in the mid-late '90s, labels weren't releasing a lot of big songs as physical singles in order to increase album sales. So that meant a lot of people who really only wanted to buy one or two songs had to get the whole album instead, leading to those astronomical sales, and a lot of the singles that would chart on the Hot 100 only did so through airplay.

*NSYNC may argue with that (don't they have both of the two fastest selling albums of all time in the US?)

 

That's true but I believe in overall BSB sold more with their albums...I might be wrong though.

 

Also N'Sync were never really THAT big outside US.

*NSYNC may argue with that (don't they have both of the two fastest selling albums of all time in the US?)

 

BSB have sold more in the long run

Edited December 25, 201410 yr by Euphorique

I'd consider them successful when they get a US #1 single. Otherwise I find their US moderately successful. And upfront.

 

After 4 straight number one albums, and over 110 mln dollars from USA leg of their tour, i think they'll handle this that you don't consider their as successful ;) .

From my understanding, part of the reason why NSYNC and BSB never seemed to match their album chart success on the Hot 100 is that, in the mid-late '90s, labels weren't releasing a lot of big songs as physical singles in order to increase album sales. So that meant a lot of people who really only wanted to buy one or two songs had to get the whole album instead, leading to those astronomical sales, and a lot of the singles that would chart on the Hot 100 only did so through airplay.

 

Exactly. Britney is another example of this. Back in 1999/2000 she was everywhere, her hype was of Taylor Swift proportions back in the day and even then her singles (bar BOMT of course) wouldn't touch the Top 5. Nevertheless, her albums were selling bucket-loads and Oops! (the album) still remains the fastest selling album by a female artist of all time.