The music industry from the 90s and 00s was awful

Yeah, I think that people are very inconsistent about this, and unfair. It's like being sniffy that most actors aren't writing their own films or plays. Being a writer is great. Being an actor is great, being a singer is great. Being a great drummer is great!

There are plenty of great writers who aren't' great singers or performers, and need someone else to bring their songs to life.

Now, lots of what comes out of the commercial music industry is just fluff, but it's not because the singers don't write their own songs.

I don't think it's just the music industry but fame in general. Have any of you seen the interviews recently with muscular male actors (famous ones, but my knowledge is so shit I have instantly forgotten who) who go through severe dehydration for 3 days including no water at all for 24 hours before a topless scene is shot just so that their skin is so thin from dehydration that they look ripped? Like how is this shit legal?!

I once worked with an actor who had been in a boy band that didn't make it. He said their management made them get tattoos and pretend to be straight (they were all gay). Their contract meant that even if they had made it they'd have made almost no money. It's a horrible, horrible industry.

It was the nicest interview I'd ever seen with Robbie. He seems to have finally found some peace

The Motown artists were similarly exploited in the 1960s. Florence Ballard of The Supremes drank herself to death.

I don't hold with the argument about 'real musicians'. Singers are real musicians. Just because you don't play/write your songs (and Gary Barlow very much did!), it doesn't mean you're 'worse' than bands who did.

I had a soft spot for Take That/E17/5ive, but preferred indie/Britpop at the time (thought I was cool 😎).

At the height of 1D fame they played a venue near enough to me and I watched an interview, I wasn't a fan just vaguely interested. They were talking about their schedule over the next few days and i remember them saying they were doing a breakfast show in another city in the middle of a three night run in my city. I remember saying to Dh, wait a minute they don't get off stage til 11 and they need to be wherever by 5 or 6am to be on air for 7 then back for sound checks etc. When do they sleep? We ended up talking through what they had said and it didn't add up at all, they were scheduled for what seemed like 72 without breaks. I remember saying to DH they will end up on drugs because even an energetic young man needs rest.

For many years I've believed the likes of Louie Walsh and Simon Cowell are monsters. I don't think much of Jedward but didn't Louie say something like yeah they are idiots but they made me a million. Absolute scum bag

Yes. It's no wonder those of us who were teens in the early-mid 2000s felt crap about ourselves- shows like X Factor ripping apart girl's appearances as you say, lads mags, mags like Heat ripping female celebs to shreds for having cellulite or being a little overweight, sites that "rated" your looks, the size zero trend- I could go on! Everything seemed to be about looks when I think to back then (even in the indie scene, which i was into, there seemed to be an emphasis on looks and body type). Don't think it's changed much, especially with social media.

The thread title says 'the music industry of the 90s and 00s'. That doesn't suggest it's just about boybands

Not just boybands in the 90's. I watched a recent documentary with Roger Taylor talking about Queen. In 1975, the band were established act with a slew of hits under their belt, but somehow, they couldn’t even afford new drumsticks. All the while, “you see them [the management] running around in stretch limos and think ‘hang on there’s something not right here!'”

You just have look at how dysfunctional the Jacksons were to see that it's been going on for a lot longer.

Appreciate that it's a harsh industry but looking back at Simon Cowell sitting there smugly pulling someone's appearance (and self esteem) to shreds in the name of entertainment, and not that long ago either is quite shocking.

Agreed! I was a 90s teen and there was much better stuff to listen to. Like Oasis, Nirvana, Prodigy, Fat Boy Slim, Sleeper, Elastica, REM, Divine Comedy and the Happy Mondays to name a few.

Yes the difference is nowadays these boys are told to talk about it and cry to the camera instead of manning up.

Even into the 10's the industry was outwardly brutal with Cowell telling girls they were fat etc.

Watch Popstar Academy on Netflix if you think it's any different now. It is, and always has been, brutal.

My point is not that they are a boyband who can play. It's that they are not a boyband at all. A boyband has a very specific definition. Which McFly doesn't fit.

Just because they're "boys" doesn't make them a boyband. They're a band. No different to Green Day or Arctic Monkeys or The Killers. Tom Fletcher himself has said in interviews that he hates McFly being called a boyband. They're musicians in a band.

I don't agree with the treatment they received, though it was made worse by the introduction of more tv channels (so more shows to go on) and then the internet and social media.

Yes on £150 a week!

I was in Central Europe then, what was "served" to us was utter crap.
I remember my female/girl friends fawning over one particular group, which was just incomprehensible to me. Always preferred a good book.
Oh, and my heart bled for these young millionaires (not).

Oh thanks will have a watch now

I was too old to be into One Direction when they came on the scene but I do remember thinking how unhealthy it was for a bunch of young men and their very young fans, particularly with the added element of social media whipping things up into frenzies. And then the bubble bursts, the management move onto their next pound of flesh and poor souls like Liam Payne pay the price.

Judy Garland was ruined by being forced to be on strict diets, taking drugs for her weight and because of the former caused insomnia, took sleeping pills.

MGM deny she was forced the drugs.

I watched this yesterday and I thought exactly the same how brutal it was. I'm also not sure it's much better now and feel their should be more support available for those being thrown into fame?

For those asking it is called boy bands forever, you can also watch part 3 on iPlayer already.

Boybands Forever. All the episodes are on iPlayer now.

Can't remember the name but it was on BBC2 last night about 9 or 10ish. That was part 1, part 2 is tonight