All eyes on One Direction

When Liam Payne released ‘Strip That Down’ ft. Quavo in May of this year, he marked himself off as the last original member of One Direction to kick off their solo career. With four out of five original One Direction members currently in the Hot 100, two of which holding the Top 2 positions, it’s finally time to have ‘the talk’, and decide who claims the crown as the most successful 1D member based on each artist’s debut single.

Zayn

We’ll kick this off with Zayn “ZAYN” Malik and his debut track ‘Pillowtalk’ – but first, some context. Malik left One Direction on March 25, 2015. He is the only ‘former’ member of One Direction with all four original members remaining in the band. Ten months after leaving the band, ‘Pillowtalk’ is released and kicks off this show.

On January 29 2016, Zayn drops ‘Pillowtalk’, his debut single and lead single off his debut album Mind Of Mine. Released to plenty of praise, it took out #2 on the following week’s Most Added To Radio, losing out to Rihanna’s ‘Work’ in the tightest ever week of additions. It took five weeks to crack #1 on the TMN Hot 100 and set a very high bar for the rest of 1D.

Niall

In September 2016, Niall signed with Capitol Records to kick off his solo career and had his debut single ‘This Town’ out by the end of the month. The first solo material from a remaining member of the band – the band had announced their hiatus in January 2016 – it easily soared to #1 on the next week’s Most Added To Radio, and thankfully didn’t have a mammoth of a Rihanna single to compete with.

Although it saw initial success on Australian radio, the highest it ever reached on the TMN Hot 100 was #12. Niall has since remedied this with follow-up single ‘Slow Hands’ which peaked at #1 and currently sits at #2.

Louis

Before Zayn left and the indefinite hiatus ensued, Louis actually registered his own record label, Triple Strings Ltd. An imprint under Simon Cowell’s own label, Tomlinson initially intended to release his debut album through it, though that idea was quashed with news just two weeks ago of his signing to Epic Records.

In late 2016 he released debut single ‘Just Hold On’, a collaboration with Steve Aoki, via Ultra Records. Scoring #2 on the following Most Added, it reached as high as #19 on the Hot 100. News and hype around the release was unfortunately overshadowed by a tragedy in the family. Louis is also the One Direction member with the latest release, ‘Back To You’ featuring Bebe Rexha & Digital Farm Animals, which was the #1 Most Added To Radio last week.

Harry

Three months in to One Direction’s hiatus, Harry Styles signs to Columbia Records as a solo artist. Almost a year later, this April, Styles teased debut single ‘Sign Of The Times’ then released it a week later due to overwhelming levels of hype. Easily securing the #1 Most Added, the track peaked at #3 on the Hot 100. That #3 peak, while still a good indicator in of itself, actually marks the highest ever debut to take place on the Hot 100. However there was some controversy following the tracks release, with a Spotify glitch prevented many fans from accessing the song in the initial hours of release – which in turn had some serious implications for sales charts that had recently begun incorporating streaming into their algorithms.

Liam

Excluding Liam Payne’s ventures as producer ‘Big Payno’, his solo career came to fruition with his signing to Capitol Records in July of last year. It would almost be a year until Payne would drop debut single ‘Strip That Down’ ft. Quavo. The track would end up losing #1 Most Added to Selena Gomez’s Bad Liar, although it has definitely made up for lost ground with its current #1 on the TMN Hot 100.

But in the age of midnight single releases and endless music streams reigning supreme, it’s not just charts activity that reflects the reaction of fans, nor gets you noticed by new listeners. There’s no denying that the social media presence of each 1D member will have contributed to the success of their individual efforts.

The One Direction fanbase was a formidable force back when the group first formed, and proved to be a key factor in the initial international success of the band.

But what happens when you divide such as united fanbase amongst the five individual members?

In terms of Twitter – the platform on which One Direction fans arguably have the biggest impact – Niall and Harry lead the way with 31.6 million and 30.9 million followers respectively. Zayn trails in last place with just 22.6 million followers, but Instagram tells us a different story.

Zayn claims the title of most Instagram followers amongst the group, with 23.2 million in total. Part of this is down to the timing of his departure from the band, and part of this is down to his very public relationship with model and Instaqueen in her own right Gigi Hadid. Harry comes in at a close second with 21.4 million followers, with Louis notching up just 13.4 million followers to claim last place.

One Direction formed in the same year that Instagram was created, so it comes as no surprise that follower numbers on the platform are lower. But it is also a platform where the collective pull and trending hashtags 1D fans participate in fails to have as much of an impact.

While the effectiveness of Twitter has decreased in the years since 1D hit the music scene, it’s almost too much of a coincidence that their rise to fame coincided with the peak in Twitter activity amongst the general public.

But do all of these followers translate to tracks being discovered and played?

According to stats from the Australian arm of Shazam, Harry’s track ‘Sign of the TImes’ garnered the most interest initially, achieving 6,860 hits in the first day of release (April 7). However, this peak quickly subsided, with Shazams dropping back to mid 3,000 by the end of the week.

Liam’s ‘Strip That Down’ showed more promise upon release, averaging 4,276 Shazams each day in the first week of release. Unlike Harry, his track did not peak in the first day, rather reaching the summit of 5,833 Shazams on May 26 – eights days after release.

Most interestingly, Zayn’s track ‘I Don’t Want To Live Forever’ (which also featured Taylor Swift) was released between Niall’s ‘This Town’ and Harry’s ‘Sign of the Times’, yet failed to generate anywhere near as much interest, peaking with just 2,423 Shazams on February 11, 17 days after release, and performing the worst of the 1D solo efforts released.

With all eyes on the One Direction boys since Zayn’s departure and the announcement of their hiatus, it was inevitable that their solo tracks be stacked up against one another. And while no individual has achieved as much success as they did as a whole, each member has proven himself to have his own strengths and weaknesses – they all have devoted, built-in fan bases but we’re still seeing quite a difference in how their solo work is being both marketed and received.

Harry came in with a big campaign and a grand, retro single because he’s always been The Star; Liam actively tried to shuck off the boy band image, disavowing 1D in his debut single and leaning the most toward radio-friendly R&B; Niall has kept things low key, and has done very well with a solid track that’s a bit cheeky but very catchy. It seems to simply come down to whether the songs are good, and how well they work on commercial radio; after all, the ultimate test is who can win over the listeners who weren’t into 1D, without shedding the loyal fans who’ve been there all along.

Need more of a 1D fix? Listen to the “Best of One Direction” TMN has put together below.