Only When You’re One Direction Is Making $130 Million Called A ‘Disaster’


One Direction will shortly be heading into a well deserved hiatus. After five years of relentless touring and churning out a No. 1 album every year who can doubt that One Direction deserve some time to put their feet up and to pursue some solo projects. Lets not forget that when One Direction were brought together on the 2010 season of X-factor the boys were barely old enough to vote. Harry Styles, the youngest member of One Direction, at 16-years-old was only just old enough to enter the competition.

In the five years since then One Direction swept all before them as they became one of the biggest bands in the world. One Direction’s 2014 tour was by far the highest grossing tour of the year and perhaps saw them hit the peak of their earning potential. Over the course of 2015 it is estimated by Forbes that One Direction earned a cool $130 million, an astronomical sum of money.

It says much about the media madness that surrounds One Direction that “only” making $130 million is being portrayed by some as a disaster of apocalyptic proportions. Unreality TV even goes so far as to suggest that One Direction’s hiatus is down to the fact that the band made such a trivial amount of money last year.

“One Direction have started their hiatus and while many news outlets have been focussing on possible feuds and ill feeling between the band members, a new report today implies that the split could have been driven by financial factors.”

“Most assumed that One Direction were bored with boyband life, but it could also be the case that being in a group was no longer profitable enough for the boys.”

Let’s just put that ridiculous claim under the microscope for a moment. A separate report in Forbes points out that One Direction were the biggest money spinning celebrities under 30-years-of age. One Direction placed second on the list of top-earning musicians with only Katy Perry sneaking just in front by grossing $135 million. One Direction earned over twice as much as the legendary Rolling Stones. Harry Styles pal Ed Sheeran played twice as many gigs as One Direction and earned about 40 percent of what the did.

One Direction placed fourth in terms of earnings on Forbes celebrity 100 topped only by Katy Perry and boxers Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Admittedly, One Direction’s earning are around 25 percent down on the previous year, but they are also 20 percent down on band members after Zayn Malik’s departure. One Direction and their management team may well give this year’s figures a sideways glance but it’s unlikely that anyone is crying all the way to the bank.

When you are part of One Direction, it seems that you will be judged according to the previous records you set yourself. It is inevitable that One Direction will have peaks and troughs in their earnings through the years. Last year, may even have been a peak that One Direction do not match again but let’s remember that the huge majority of bands do not earn $130 million in a career much less in a single year.

To suggest that One Direction are taking a hiatus because they didn’t earn enough last year is an insult to the band and their fans. Sadly, this is the kind of reporting of One Direction that has become commonplace. Some sections of the media just love to build people up so that they can tear them down again. We should also remember that One Direction announced their hiatus long before the year-end earning figures were known.

There are doubtless a multitude of reasons why One Direction decided that the time was right for them to rest up for a while. It is almost beyond credible to suggest that a drop in earnings is high on the list of their reasons.

As One Direction enter their hiatus and potentially become less visible prepare yourself to be bombarded by news stories of this nature.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]

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