The girl power behind boy bands

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Mar 19, 2099 Source: The Ottawa Citizen Submitted By: Girls under 14 shape the pop music industry. This group of ardent music fans tells Lynn Saxberg what they like, what they really, really like. Lynn Saxberg - The Ottawa Citizen When it comes to the music business, girls have always had power. They proved it with Elvis Presley and the Beatles, screaming with excitement long before serious pop fans caught on. They loved Motown, they made disco huge and they worshipped Michael Jackson. And for the last couple of years, they've been at it again, propelling the rise of the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys, and now a whole new batch of copycat boy bands. 'N Sync, 98 degrees, Five, and nearly a dozen others have emerged, most of them emulating the wholesome style and vocal-pop sound of the Backstreet Boys, who were, of course, directly descended from the New Kids on the Block. And then there are groups like Hanson and The Moffatts, a little different because they don't just sing and dance, they play their own instruments. Blame the explosion of boy bands on girls 14 and under. "What happens is girls start out stronger in the music market," says Kaan Yigit, president of Solutions Research Group. "They always have had massive influence. Young girls run the pop music world, period. But once you reach about 15, boys take over in terms of overall spending on music." His company's research shows that 95 per cent of teenage girls are music buyers, with approximately seven in 10 considered active music buyers -- that is, they purchase at least four albums in a six-month period. They also go to concerts. Core Audience president Steve Herman is pleased with ticket sales to the 98¡ concert tomorrow at the Ottawa Congress Centre, the Ohio vocal quartet's first stop on an 11-city Canadian tour. Six of the concerts sold out the first day tickets went on sale. And Universal Concerts reports that all shows on the Moffatts' cross-Canada tour are nearly sold out, including a gig at Barrymore's Music Hall on April 6. The million-selling Canadian band consists of teenage triplets Clint, Bob and Dave, and their elder brother, Scott. So what makes the perfect boy band? Is it looks or talent or marketing? And what else are girls listening to these days? To find out, we assembled a group of six girls, ranging in age from 11 to 14. Their favourite acts run the spectrum from rock bands like Goo Goo Dolls and Matthew Good Band to hip-hop acts Busta Rhymes and Puff Daddy. Among the things we discovered: Girls younger than 11 to 14 are more into boy bands, but most of this group still likes the Backstreet Boys. They feel the Spice Girls turned out to be to be hypocrites, and their dream band would have both boys and girls in it. The panel consisted of long-time friends Halley Mullen, 13, Krista Zeidan, 11, Taryn Butler, 13, Katya Zeidan, 14, Kendall Manor, 11, and Alex Vanderydt, 11. Here's a sampling of the conversation: On boy bands Halley: They're all trying to be like each other, N Sync, Five, 98¡. They all have the same music. They're the same thing. Krista: I think they're all trying to make money. Katya: "I think there's too many guy bands out there. When you see girls that are growing up and they're looking up to guy bands, I think it would be better if there were more girl bands around than what there is." On the Backstreet Boys Kendall: "I know that New Kids, they started it, but people think the Backstreet Boys started it and they're all trying to copy the Backstreet Boys." Katya: "I don't like Backstreet Boys anymore. They've worn out their welcome. They've been around too long." Kendall: "I still like them. They're good looking and I like their songs because they have lots of meaning. They're nice and soft and they don't hurt your ears. You don't get sick of hearing them over and over." Halley: "I think they'll go back up when the new CD comes out." Kendall: "I think that the Backstreet Boys are the most sophisticated group. They have nice hair." On 'N Sync Krista: "I think Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync have nice songs and if you listen to them they make a lot of sense." Halley: "Aren't they trying to copy the Backstreet Boys -- the way they act, their hair, sometimes the way they dress?" Krista: "N Sync is trying to look like the Backstreet Boys and make as money as they can." Halley: "I wouldn't buy their CDs. But they're nicely dressed." On the Spice Girls Krista: "They were really together. They were really a band." Kendall: "And then Ginger went out. I think that whenever somebody goes out of it, it kinda ruins the band." Katya: "Their songs say that they're going to stick together and then they break up. They're always talking about girl power and they say how guys shouldn't be important to you, but they're getting married, they're having kids. It doesn't make sense." Halley: They're having so much fun, and I think that's what attracts the younger kids, is the music. You want to get up and dance. At our age, we're more into rap stuff, like Mase and Puff Daddy." Boys or girls? Katya: "The Moffatts? I think they're all trying to be a bunch of girls. Hanson? They look like girls, they sound like girls." The wacky guy Kendall: "I think every group needs a crazy person or else it wouldn't be any fun. If they were all sophisticated, their songs wouldn't be fun." Katya: "But Marilyn Manson is too wacky. He should be put behind bars." Alex: "He's scary. I heard he kills animals at his concerts." Halley: "Some of his songs are leading kids to doing bad stuff like drugs or suicide. He has all these negative things." Kendall: "Not any normal people really like Marilyn Manson." Britney Spears Krista: "She's too giddy. She's pretty though." Katya: "I don't like the whole CD, but I like the song. Guys like her." Looks vs. talent vs. age Kendall: Usually they try to get people who are good looking. I think they should get normal people like us. Katya: "I think there should be more younger groups because everybody is looking up to these older groups." Kendall: "Older people say don't do drugs and you don't know if they've done drugs, they might have. But I know that a 13 or 12-year-old would never try drugs." Krista: It doesn't matter what age you are, like Cher. I don't think she should have got all that plastic surgery. I think she'd be better just with her natural self." Kendall: "You don't have to be beautiful to be a good singer. She could have been ugly and sung that song just as well. My mom always says when you sing, you're happy, so I think that if somebody's happy when they're singing, they can sing." Dream band Katya: Will Smith -- he doesn't swear. He's very pious -- I learned that word in school. He's a caring person. What he says is important. Krista: Lauryn Hill A.J. (Backstreet Boys) Every group needs a crazy person. Katya: I think if I had to pick one Spice Girl, I'd pick Scary. Halley: Justin (Timberlake of 'N Sync) should be in the band. And Mase. What about us? Halley: "I think we should be a band. We could be The Amazons, that's an all-girl tribe. They're powerful." Kendall: "I can sing." Krista: "I can play clarinet. And a little bit of guitar." Katya: "If we were in a recording studio we'd be really hyper." On 98¡ Katya: "You're asking us if we like 98¡. What we think of it is one thing, but I know a lot of people that do like them and go totally mental about them." Kendall: "I like them. I think they're really cute. Halley: "Everybody has different tastes." Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: cheap oem software NE9Hdk Totally agree with you, about a week ago wrote about the same in my blog..! 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