NSYNC could make millions of dollars from its newfound 'Deadpool & Wolverine' fame

By Charles Passy

Thanks to the prominent placement of its 2000 single 'Bye Bye Bye' in the Marvel superhero movie, the boy band from a generation ago is enjoying a sudden resurgence in popularity

So much for saying bye, bye, bye to the boy-band craze of an earlier era: NSYNC is suddenly riding a new wave of chart-climbing success.

It has to do with the re-emergence of the group's 2000 single "Bye Bye Bye," which is prominently featured in "Deadpool & Wolverine," the Disney (DIS) movie that's part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. As a result, the single has cracked the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart - but that's hardly the only sign of how it has put NSYNC back in the spotlight since the film's U.S. release on July 26.

The group has seen its monthly listeners on Spotify (SPOT) jump by 6.9 million, a 75.5% increase, according to the industry-tracking Stat of The Week newsletter from Beats + Bytes and Chartmetric. And the official "Bye Bye Bye" music video has garnered an additional nearly 9 million views on Alphabet's (GOOGL) (GOOG) YouTube, the newsletter said.

Not that the superhero movie, which stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, isn't also seeing big numbers. It has taken in more than $1 billion in global ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo, and has already become the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history.

Still, for NSYNC, the sudden success is a seemingly unlikely encore for the five-member group, which first commanded attention in an era when Spotify and YouTube didn't even exist.

"All five of us are like, 'This is crazy,'" NSYNC member Joey Fatone told MarketWatch via text. The other members of the group are Justin Timberlake, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lance Bass and JC Chasez.

The result of the single's newfound success could result in a payday of millions of dollars for the group, the record label and others connected to "Bye Bye Bye" and NSYNC, according to music-industry experts and professionals.

Begin with what Disney had to pay for usage of the single, a figure that likely ranges anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000, according to Clayton Durant, founder of the music-consulting firm CAD Management and an author behind the Stat of the Week newsletter. (Disney didn't respond to a request for comment for this story.)

But that's really the smallest share. Income generated from streaming could add those millions of dollars to the equation, Durant said.

Then there's the possibility of an NSYNC reunion tour, something that has been talked about in recent months. Durant said it's a stronger possibility than ever because of the "Bye Bye Bye" phenomenon - and such a tour could be a phenomenon unto itself.

"You could be talking [about] a $100 million-plus tour," he said.

It's worth noting that NSYNC's current rise has precedence in terms of other established (or "catalog") artists suddenly finding themselves back in the spotlight because of a song's use in a movie or television program.

A recent case in point: English singer-songwriter Kate Bush enjoyed a resurgence when her 1985 single "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" played a key role in the fourth season of the Netflix (NFLX) series "Stranger Things."

And examples abound outside the cinematic and television arenas. Consider how Creed, a rock band whose heyday dates back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, found fame once again when the Texas Rangers baseball team embraced the group's music on its way to winning the World Series last year.

"All five of us are like, 'This is crazy.'"NSYNC member Joey Fatone

It's all about tapping into the emotions a tune from the past creates, said Jason Peterson, chief executive officer of GoDigital Media Group, a company that works in the entertainment and sports industries.

"When these catalog songs are featured in new media, it calls up these memories and feelings and drives an all-new consumption pattern," he said.

Nevertheless, such chart-topping examples are more often the exception than the rule. While plenty of songs from the past find their way into current-day media - indeed, record labels have whole departments devoted to making this happen - such placements may result in a decent payday, but not a game-changing one.

The difference with NYSNC and "Deadpool & Wolverine" is that the song is so critical to the movie, music-industry pros note. In fact, it's part of the opening credits as the character of Deadpool, played by Reynolds, is established as the irreverent superhero he is.

Joe Mulvihill, an artist manager who works with Fatone, said Reynolds was in touch with NSYNC members about wanting to use the song as the picture started coming together. Mulvihill said once everyone involved with the group started talking, it was an easy yes.

"We're all Deadpool fans," Mulvihill said.

Also playing into the "Bye Bye Bye" hype is the fact there's been a nostalgic fervor for the boy bands of a previous generation, to say nothing of a wave of younger listeners showing interest.

Members of this younger generation are often fans of BTS, the breakthrough K-pop boy band, and they're looking to discover similar boy groups from the past, said Bob Bradley, a music publicist.

Then again, Bradley added, boy-band fervor has been around for quite a while. "It started with the Beatles," he noted.

-Charles Passy

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08-19-24 1358ET

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