Last Friday when I took over temporarily for Maria for Good Friday, I mentioned the One Direction reunion rumours, because Liam Payne said in an interview that he’d been in touch with Niall Horan, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson about a 10th anniversary celebration. As I said, it’s five or nothing!

So ...what about Zayn Malik? 

 

Well, Directioners are losing it right now because Liam, Niall, Harry, and Louis have all followed Zayn on Twitter. 

Zayn hasn’t followed them back yet, at least not at the time of this writing, but there are some other signs as well. Like the fact that they’ve also followed the official One Direction Twitter account and the One Direction website is apparently reactivated and all their albums are back on Apple Music, according to the NY Post.

Which is why #1DOnlineConcertStayAtHome is currently trending #1 on Twitter worldwide. I haven’t seen anything official about a concert. But all of this can’t be happening for no reason…right? 

I repeat….five or nothing!

Is a global health crisis enough to heal old wounds and rebuild bridges? In these uncertain times, when music can sooth the soul and calm our fears, which is every artist’s “truth” behind the art, will Zayn find his way back to the boys? 

 

Will four become five once again? 

You know, there is another boy band that is doing an online concert. BTS announced a few days ago that they’ll be streaming concerts on YouTube and other social platforms this coming weekend, April 18 and 19. 

Bang Bang Con, BTS’s Concert At Home, will feature tour performances from 2015 to 2019 and also performances from their Muster celebrations, the band’s special anniversary concerts for their ARMY that are separate and distinct from their tours. 

It’s a great idea, a genius way to keep their fans engaged – and attract new ones – since they’ve had to postpone the tour Map of the Soul: 7 tour, which was supposed to start around now and it’s another example of how BTS and their management are always ahead on how they’ve been able to use social media to their advantage. Because while Bang Ban Con is free, it will undoubtedly result in a boost in streaming and sales…

And that’s not lost to anyone in the music industry – beyond the Far East. Western music executives have been analysing the BTS success model for some time now and though they won’t admit it, these outsiders from South Korea who don’t sing in English and have somehow crashed the English market have been disrupting the game, reaching and surpassing benchmarks independent of the westernised, English-dominant music institutions. 

 

I’m not here to start a fight and I’m not suggesting that One Direction may be copying anyone and please, Directioners, do not come at me with your aggression. I’m just saying, the big deal boy band that came along after 1D and built on what 1D did with their social engagement, and keeps killing it with ingenuity, is BTS. They’re pulling out content from their extensive library – content that already exists because they’ve previously released this upcoming concert lineup for individual DVD sales (that only the truest diehardiest ARMYs, with the resources, have already purchased) so the cost is comparatively minimal. It’s more complicated than pressing “play” but… not that much more complicated. Trust me, there will be a lot of music executives and industry players keeping an eye on BTS’s Bang Bang Con this weekend, which also happens to be what was supposed to be Coachella’s second weekend. 

And on top of that, April 18 is when Lady Gaga, Global Citizen, and the World Health Organisation are doing their One World: Together at Home show. BTS’s Bang Bang Con will be over by the time that begins. But the numbers will be an interesting comparison. 

Is the One Direction reunion going to happen during Gaga’s curated concert? Will that be the “surprise”?