Simon Cowell reveals ‘one regret’ about his time managing One Direction
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Simon Cowell has revealed his only remorse concerning his tenure overseeing One Direction.
The individual who is known for their involvement in the music industry and responsible for creating The X Factor show made an appearance in the latest release of Stephen Bartlett's The Diary of a CEO podcast. During the episode, multiple topics were discussed which involved the individual's experiences of breaking their back, coping with the loss of their parents, and obtaining cash as a youngster.
Cowell, who is 64 years old, also looked back on some of the triumphs of his profession, such as creating the boy band One Direction during the 2010 season of The X Factor.
The group, composed of Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik, attained global triumph in the following years. They became the inaugural boy band in American chart history to produce two albums that reached the top spot in the same year.
Although Cowell is pleased with One Direction's numerous accomplishments, he acknowledged that he wishes he had the rights to the band's name. By having ownership, he would have had greater opportunities to explore different ventures using their name.
He expressed his remorse to Bartlett about not retaining the name.
Bartlett inquired, "Who possesses the name?" Cowell answered, "They have ownership of it." This creates an issue because once you give an artist a name, it is no longer under your control. This is the only thing I feel remorseful about, as we could have created an animation or anything else.
Turning his focus towards the musical group, Cowell made a humorous comment, saying: "In the event that you hear me, let it be known that I am willing to repurchase it from you."
The judge of both The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent stated that all members of the band share ownership of the group's name, which grants them equal authority over the usage of the group's title.
He stated that in case any member of the band declines to go on tour for any reason, it could halt the touring plans of the rest of the members. However, if he were the one who possessed the name, such an issue would not exist.
Sometimes, I can be extremely gullible, and that was a prime example of my gullibility. Therefore, in the future, I must include owning the name as a requirement in any arrangement.
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In another part of the podcast, Cowell remembered the initial guidance he provided to the budding band during their early days.
During my conversation with One Direction, I recall expressing to them our objective to ensure that they have an adequate number of popular songs so that, if they ever reunite, they can perform in stadiums. This implies that they need to have at least ten successful singles, since that's what their audience desires to hear the most. They crave to be entertained with well-known hits.
Bartlett inquired if Cowell thought the band would ever get back together after their decision to take a break without a set end date in January 2016. Cowell responded with doubt, saying he did not think it was likely to happen.
Later this year, Cowell is planning to commence his hunt for the United Kingdom's next popular boy group, aiming to create the same charm and triumph that One Direction experienced.
In a different part of the podcast episode that came out on Monday, June 10, the speaker expressed his fondness for music bands and criticized their scarcity in present-day popular music industry.
Cowell stated that during the time of Motown, there were just as many groups as there were individual performers.
Something has gone wrong and the only way I know how to form a band is by holding auditions. I realized that if I didn't do it this year, I would regret it so I decided to go through with it. We will be recording the entire process for documentation purposes.
"This time, you'll witness precisely what occurs."
