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2002
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The
Lost Boys: How a Pop Sensation Came Undone
back up
Source: The New York Times
By: NEIL STRAUSS
THE Backstreet Boys have sold more than 65 million albums around
the world, a number that few pop acts have surpassed. In their
prime, in the 90's, they were a pop juggernaut, breathing new life
into MTV, the record business, children's radio, teen magazines and
teenage purchasing power.
But along the way, they were surpassed by a very similar band with
the same management, songwriting and production team: 'N Sync. As 'N
Sync's star rose, the Backstreet Boys seemed to disappear. Music
industry observers have offered scattered reasons: the Backstreet
Boys lost their young audience when they tried to fashion a darker,
more adult look; they alienated love-smitten fans when two group
members married; they damaged their image when they admitted that
the band member A. J. McLean had checked into rehab for alcohol
abuse and depression.
But there is more to the story. Or more precisely, the Backstreet
Boys' ups and downs are part of a larger story, one about the music
industry today. It's about five young men put to work as pop puppets
who develop minds and ideas of their own, then find out what can
happen to long-term ambitions in a consolidating industry in which
quarterly profits are crucial, professional relationships are not
what they seem and pop groups are treated like disposable
products.
The history of rock and roll is littered with broken bands and
dashed hopes. But what distinguishes the Backstreet Boys' story is
its scale, one involving deals worth as much as $100 million that
the band members now say were a mistake, causing them to lose
control of their careers.
"The business is over here," Kevin Richardson, at 29 the
oldest group member, said recently, stretching his left hand out.
"And the artistry," he continued, stretching out his right
hand, "is over here."
The story begins with Lou Pearlman, an aviation entrepreneur based
in Florida (and cousin of Art Garfunkel). Inspired by the success of
the 80's heartthrobs New Kids on the Block, who happened to charter
a plane from him, he decided to recruit and groom his own clean-cut
boy bands. After a series of auditions in 1992 and 1993, he
recruited Nick Carter (the youngest at 12), Howie Dorough, Mr.
McLean and Mr. Richardson, who was 20 and whose cousin, Brian
Littrell, soon completed the Backstreet Boys lineup. Mr. Pearlman
booked them at grade-school assemblies, shopping malls and Sea
World, and assigned management duties to Johnny Wright, who had
worked with New Kids on the Block.
A year later, Jive Records, an independent label best known for its
hip-hop acts, was coaxed into signing the Backsteet Boys. But the
band's first single, "We've Got It Going On," sputtered in
America, where its sweet, harmony-laden pop was out of step with the
alternative rock of the time. So in 1995 the band's first album,
"Backstreet Boys," was released in Europe and Canada,
hitting the top 10 in numerous countries. Jive and Mr. Pearlman kept
the band busy overseas for the next two years, sometimes putting it
on tour for five months straight.
When teenybopper bands like the Spice Girls and Hanson began to
succeed in the United States, Jive and Mr. Pearlman decided to bring
the boys back. In the fall of 1997, an American version of
"Backstreet Boys" was released and, over time, its
popularity wore down skeptics at radio stations and MTV. When the
album crossed the 10 million mark in sales, it heralded the cultural
arrival of Generation Y.
"They were probably single-handedly responsible for the advent
of `Total Request Live,' for Radio Disney, for Teen People becoming
the force it has become, and, no doubt, for the explosion in teen
purchasing power in America," said Barry Weiss, the president
of Jive. "They pushed the envelope."
As with nearly all sudden pop sensations, a conflict soon grew
between the band members, who wanted time off to relax and find
perspective, and the business forces behind them, who wanted to keep
the momentum going.
"The Backstreet Boys got so big they got tired," Mr.
Pearlman said. "And after a while, it became not about managing
them but reasoning with them."
Matters grew worse when a doctor recommended in the spring of 1998
that Mr. Littrell have surgery because of a leaky heart valve.
"I remember management at the time saying, `Can't you postpone
it so we can finish the tour?' " Mr. Richardson said. "And
this just hurt Brian so much because he was like, `Dude, this is my
heart.' " (Mr. Pearlman said that he had supported taking time
off for the operation immediately.)
Meanwhile, Mr. Pearlman rolled out his next big boy band: 'N Sync.
That summer, the Backstreet Boys decided not to accept an offer from
Disney, which wanted to broadcast a concert special. Mr. Richardson
said that he and his bandmates were exhausted and wanted to spend
time with their families.
"That left the door open for 'N Sync," Mr. Pearlman said.
"And 'N Sync walked through the door."
Mr. Richardson said that 'N Sync worked hard and deserved the
breakthrough. The Backstreet Boys directed their anger at Mr.
Pearlman and his management team, coming to believe that it was a
conflict of interest for them to handle such mirror-image acts.
"They were directing them to work with all the writers and
producers that we worked with," Mr. Richardson said. "And
they were using 'N Sync against us, saying, `Oh, if you guys don't
do this gig, we'll just book 'N Sync.' "
In response to accusations from Mr. Pearlman and others that the
band lost its drive, he said: "We tried to find a balance. We
got tired of being taken advantage of. That's the bottom
line."
So the band took its contracts to outside lawyers, who discovered
that Mr. Pearlman had legally made himself a sixth member of the
group, meaning that he was able to keep 17 percent of the money he
distributed to the band after taking his 15 percent commission,
according to court documents.
The Backstreet Boys filed suit in 1998, claiming that they had only
received $300,000 since 1993 while Mr. Pearlman and their managers
had reaped $10 million. In an interview, Mr. Pearlman defended his
business practices, saying that he had spent $3 million on the
Backstreet Boys before the band had earned a dime. He added that it
is common practice in the music business for a company to earn its
investment back before paying the artist.
As the battle intensified, the band found itself unable to proceed
with a planned tour, Mr. Richardson said. "They locked our
production equipment and stage and everything up and said, `You guys
are supposed to do a tour, but you're not getting your equipment,'
" he recalled.
The band reached a settlement that allowed Mr. Pearlman to retain,
among other things, one-sixth of the band's profits.
It was around this time in 1999 that the Backstreet Boys, who were
being managed by Mr. McLean's mother, held a meeting with executives
of a two-year-old management company called the Firm, which
represented bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit. Two executives from the
Firm, Jeff Kwatinetz and Michael Green, showed up backstage at a
concert in Orlando, Fla., and, after being kept waiting for an hour
outside the group's dressing room, burst in and made their
pitch.
The band members were impressed by these brash young executives who
promised them greater control of their careers, a larger share of
revenues and innovative promotion and merchandising. With the help
of the Firm, the Backstreet Boys sued Mr. Pearlman several more
times, until he renegotiated the settlement on terms more favorable
to the band. Executives of the Firm said that the Backstreet Boys
had bought out Mr. Pearlman's stake in the band, but Mr. Pearlman
denied this.
The Backstreet Boys retained the Firm's own lawyer to represent
them; later, they transferred legal duties to John Branca, who
manages most of the Firm's top clients.
Here, commercially and personally, began a glory period for the
Backstreet Boys. In 1999 their CD "Millennium" sold 1.1
million copies in its first week — more than any album before it.
"Millennium" became the best-selling release of the year
(more than nine million copies), while the accompanying tour raked
in $37 million. Merchandise sales brought in millions more.
THE windfall was good for those around the group, too. It thrust
Jive Records into the highly lucrative teen-pop market. (Impressed
by its teen-pop sales, BMG, which already owned 20 percent of Jive's
parent company, recently purchased the remainder for $3 billion, the
most ever paid for an independent record company.)
In the meantime, according to executives who worked with the band,
the Firm negotiated tens of millions of dollars in advance payments
for recordings and performances from Jive and the concert promoter
Clear Channel. This helped the management company finance its
growth. It soon became a powerhouse in film and music, with a
current staff of about 240 people. It acquired the sneaker company
Pony, a chain of stuffed-animal stores and the merchandising rights
to the cartoon aardvark Arthur. It also started buying other
management companies, most notably Michael Ovitz's Artists
Management Group earlier this year.
David Baram, the president and chief operating officer of the Firm,
denied accusations — from rival managers, and from Aaron Ray, a
former partner in the Firm — that the Firm was built off the backs
of bands like the Backstreet Boys. "Our success is totally a
function of never making short-term decisions for our artists,"
he said. "We've been fortunate enough to grow our business
where we're not dependent on any particular commission
check."
One thing at which the Firm excels is battling record labels on
behalf of its acts. The executives who worked with the band say the
Backstreet Boys had a heavily one-sided deal with Jive, which owned
most of the band's merchandising, film and other rights. In
addition, on Jive's books the Backstreet Boys still owed the label
money, which meant that despite being the most successful band of
their time, they weren't getting a penny in royalties from their
record label, according to the band's past and current
managers.
In a contract renegotiation, the Firm managed to loosen some of the
label's restrictions on the band and secure a $65 million advance, a
figure that many in the Backstreet Boys camp confirmed. (Though the
band only received 30 percent of the money up front; the rest comes
with album deliveries and sales bonuses.) Executives who worked with
the band said that the Firm had made use of the Backstreet Boys'
irritation at Jive's latest coup: the signing of 'N Sync, which had
also sued Mr. Pearlman and found new representation.
The band's subsequent album, "Black and Blue," signaled
the end of its glory days. "That record — and I'm not
complaining or blaming anyone because it sold a lot of copies —
for me personally, I wasn't happy with it," Mr. Richardson
said. "I felt like we should have experimented more. But there
was all this pressure and fear from our label and our management
company."
Executives of the Firm said that the rest of the band had been happy
with the album and voted to release it, especially since any further
changes would have meant missing its Christmas-season release date.
To promote the album, the Firm worked closely with Wal-Mart, MTV and
Burger King, which paid several million dollars to sponsor the band.
(According to executives close to the band, Jive Records, which was
not included in the Burger King deal, made a separate deal for 'N
Sync and Britney Spears with McDonald's, whose campaign beat Burger
King's by about a week.)
In the end, "Black and Blue" actually beat the first-week
sales of "Millennium," selling 1.6 million. (It went on to
sell a total of 5.3 million.) But what should have been a triumph
was hardly seen that way by the industry. That was because 'N Sync's
new album, "No Strings Attached," had sold 2.4 million
copies in its first week. The 'N Sync album followed a ubiquitous
No. 1 single, "Bye Bye Bye"; the Backstreet Boys had not
released such a successful single early.
"We made a lot of right decisions when we put the Millennium
tour together," Mr. Richardson said, "but because of that
success, people in our organization got comfortable and weren't
being so cautious anymore."
Other factors were undermining the band. Executives working with the
Backstreet Boys said band members had stopped getting along after
the release of "Black and Blue." Executives with the Firm
were also frustrated with the band for not working as hard as 'N
Sync seemed to be, especially in making public appearances.
Furthermore, Mr. Littrell's wife, Leighanne Wallace, who was
critical of the Firm, began exerting a major influence over his
decisions, according to executives close to the band, incurring
resentment both within and outside the group.
The relationship with the Firm grew worse when the band began to
work on its tour to support "Black and Blue." Clear
Channel offered to buy the entire tour outright for $100 million, a
figure the group's managers jumped at.
As it turned out, Mr. Richardson said, "it was a big
mistake."
"When people were throwing that big number on the table, it was
tempting, but we asked questions, we asked about ticket sales, we
asked about the control aspect, and we were told not to worry,"
he said, referring to his management company. "And it hurt
us."
To make money, he said, Clear Channel had to set extremely high
ticket prices, shutting out many Backstreet Boys fans. A spokesman
for Clear Channel said that the steep ticket prices had actually
been pushed by the Firm, and that Clear Channel had fought for lower
prices, telling the management company that the ticket costs were
"obscenely high" and "detrimental to the band's
career." (Mr. Baram of the Firm said that the final decision
had rested with Clear Channel, and that ticket prices had been set
that were comparable with tours by similar acts.)
Tickets did not go on sale until January 2001, months later than
originally planned. The economy dipped and pop music sales began to
sag, along with the entire boy-band phenomenon the Backstreet Boys
had spearheaded. Ticket sales were less than expected, and the
venues were scaled back from stadiums to arenas. Mr. Baram said that
The Firm had made this decision, sacrificing millions of dollars in
commissions, because playing to half-filled stadiums would have been
greatly damaging to the band's image and career.
"When the tour went down to arenas, it was renegotiated so that
it wasn't $100 million," Mr. Richardson said. "When 9/11
happened, and when A. J. went into rehab and we took two months off,
that's another renegotiation. So that $100 million, that's not $100
million."
Again complicating the situation was 'N Sync, which put its tour
tickets on sale a week before the Backstreet Boys did, a move the
band interpreted as intentional on the part of 'N Sync's business
associates.
In the end, out of what was supposed to be a deal worth $100
million, band members received $6 million to $7 million each, less
than half of what they were expecting, according to executives
involved in the deal.
From the band's perspective, the money wasn't the problem. The
bigger problem was that such large deals, while lucrative for the
band and the business people around it, were harmful to its members'
long-term careers and the needs of its fans. And the worst was still
to come. As 2001 came to a close, Jive Records had not released a
blockbuster teen album. So it decided to rush a Christmas release of
a Backstreet Boys greatest-hits CD.
The band members say they resisted, feeling that it was too early in
their careers for such an album and that it would ruin their
longheld plan to mark the group's 10th anniversary in 2003 with a
greatest-hits release.
"Our management company was supportive and we weren't,"
Mr. Richardson said of the album. "And the record company was
going to put it out anyway. So it's either promote, or fight with
your label, don't promote it and risk it doing very badly. But
ultimately, who is it that's going to get hurt? It's not going to
hurt our label. It's going to hurt us."
Despite threats from the band, Jive Records put out the album after
long debate. Mr. Weiss of Jive defended the label's decision, saying
that the greatest-hits record sold nearly six million copies
worldwide, yielded an international top 10 hit
("Drowning") and served to keep the group's profile
up.
Mr. Weiss did not respond directly to many of the band's grievances.
"If you look at the annals of the entire record industry,"
he said, "any expert would defy anybody to say that Jive didn't
do the best job in the history of this kind of music."
However, Mr. Richardson and his current management said the band
planned to commission an audit of its financial relationship with
Jive. The band, he said, was still "unrecouped" —
industry parlance for when a record company says that a band hasn't
earned back the money the company has spent on it. With
multi-million dollar advances against future sales (a move that Firm
executives said made sense, considering how difficult it is, even
for a band this big, to get royalties from a record label), there
may be good reason the band wouldn't be receiving royalties
yet.
"I'd rather not get into it," Mr. Weiss said about the
royalty situation. "The Backstreet Boys do not have anything to
worry about financially. These guys are set for life based on the
money they've received from this label."
Last March, the Backstreet Boys had a group meeting because they
felt that they weren't getting the personal attention they needed
and had been used to before the Firm expanded. "They've built a
huge, very powerful company, and they're good people," Mr.
Richardson said. "But this past year, some bad decisions were
made and some bad advice given."
With Mr. McLean and Mr. Littrell strongly advocating leaving the
Firm, the band walked into the offices of the Firm to deliver an
ultimatum. Much to the band members' surprise, the Firm did not put
up much resistance to their leaving. The bigger shock came when the
other group members found out that Nick Carter, arguably the most
popular of them, had chosen to remain. The Firm told the group that
it would manage his solo career, and the band stormed out.
Afterward, in an unexpected move, the group signed on to be managed
simultaneously by two industry veterans, Howard Kaufman and Irving
Azoff.
In the meantime, Jive is taking a great interest in Mr. Carter as
well as in Justin Timberlake of 'N Sync, an apparent shifting of
focus from groups, which are more costly and difficult to manage, to
solo acts. With no blockbuster pop releases this year, the label,
according to industry observers, has little choice but to bank on
releasing a Nick Carter solo album by the end of the year. Mr. Weiss
of Jive said that he considered the solo album, due to be released
in October, ahead of the next Backstreet Boys album, "part and
parcel of the reinvention of the Backstreet Boys as a
whole."
Many industry observers, however, feel that these moves are
detrimental — if not lethal — to the bands. "Nick wants to
go solo, so does Justin," Mr. Pearlman said. "And if I was
more a part of their careers, I'd ask: `Does this help the group?
How does this help the other guys?' "
Currently, Mr. Carter is choosing among 35 songs he has recorded for
his album. The rest of the band is recording demos without him,
using a number of producers, including Babyface, Jermaine Dupri and
Glen Ballard. The more rock-oriented material made with Mr. Ballard,
who produced Alanis Morissette's albums, shows an evolving, maturing
direction.
Mr. Azoff said that he had signed on to help the band members with
their commitment to a long-term career. Whether that will happen
remains to be seen, but Mr. Azoff is unconcerned with the current
debate over tensions between the band and Mr. Carter. "Whether
Nick is in the band or not, it doesn't frighten me," Mr. Azoff
said. "The Eagles changed members three times, and it didn't
hurt their career."
-
WBLI
Summer Jam Review Nick Carter Hosted - 6 Aug 2002
back up
Source: Front
Street Magazine
What do you get when you mix up crazy New Yorkers, some of the
freshest talent around and Long Islands number one radio station?
WBLIs summer Jam, and what a party it was! With the likes of new
comers LMNT and Course Of Nature, along with recent hit makers
Vanessa Carlton, Shakira and O-Town, how could they have possibly
gone wrong? They didn’t… and to liven things up even more the
show saw the likes of superstars Kylie Minogue, Melissa Joan Hart
(Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Jamie Lynn Sigler (Soprano’s) and
Jennifer Love Hewitt.
The show openers were the Baha Men, they snaked their way along the
stage much to the thrill of the audience to their newest single
(Shake It Like That) and their old favourites (Who let the Dogs
Out). Their performance was followed up quickly by Daniel B, LMNT,
Course of Nature as well as sneak peeks of crowd pleasers Nick C and
Melissa JH. The obvious favourites of the show were Vanessa Carlton,
O-Town and Shakira, but their competition was definitely HOT when it
came to hometown hero Ashanti. At one point I even overheard a girl
bragging about how she went to school with a younger Ashanti in her
hometown of Glen Cove.
Some more crowd highlights definitely included the radio host turned
stripper, known to be an on air daredevil he became an onstage
success when the audience roared with obvious enjoyment at the
removal of his clothing. Standing there in only bright yellow boxers
he looked like he was fully enjoying the mostly female audiences
attention. That is till a male associate who was obviously not as
overjoyed to see him undressed carried him off stage
When Nick Carter exited the backstage area, shrieks and cries could
be heard for miles… Or at least it sounded that way from my
vantage point, he exchanged ten-minute pleasantries with the radio
host on stage and teased and tantalized the audience with what seems
to be a new harder bod look and his usual ghetto superstar come
hither body language that seems to drive girls wild. Nick and his
size ten (but only in sandals) feet gave one of the most memorable
moments of the night, it was a young girl’s birthday and he got
into the crowd to give her a hug and wish her happy birthday, turns
out pop superstars can be sweethearts as well. Carter is set to
release his first solo album rather aptly entitled “Now or Never”
in late October, BLI’s show was only one in the set of radio shows
he will hit this summer to promote this new endeavour. Unfortunately
he teased the audience by pretending to sing and rather just sort of
rapped something incoherent. His new album is much anticipated by
fans with promise of a newer more rock sound.
Unfortunately the weather although it held out for a good part of
the show was not meant to hold out forever and as Ashanti took the
stage the rain started. Even this didn’t put a damper on the
concert and the show went on as planned. Minus the great weather for
a small part of the night of course, not one frown left the venue
that night.
Seems 106.1 WBLI knows exactly how to throw a party to satisfy all
tastes. Much props to them for a great day of entertainment, great
artists and a smooth near perfect show!
* If you want to see Pictures of Nick on stage at the Summer Jam,
Click HERE
*
-
Ronald
McDonald Annual Awards of Excellence Gala to Feature All Star
Line-Up Including Nick Carter back
up
Source: McDonalds
Debut of Original Song by David Foster to Launch “McDonald’s
World Children’s Day”
Oak Brook, Illonois - August 16, 2002 – Ronald McDonald House
Charities (RMHC) will host its annual “Awards of Excellence”
gala at the Arie Crown Theater at McCormick Place in Chicago on
Saturday, September 14th. The black-tie event will feature a silent
auction, reception and performances by leading artists including
international megastar Celine Dion, renowned Latin singing sensation
Enrique Iglesias, Grammy-award winning composer, producer and
musician David Foster, up-and-coming musical artist Josh Groban,
R&B/gospel singer Nita Whitaker, and pop idol Nick Carter of the
Backstreet Boys. An original song written and composed by David
Foster will debut in honor of “McDonald’s World Children’s
Day,” taking place November 20, 2002.
The 2002 Award of Excellence will be presented to two outstanding
individuals who made a significant contribution to improve the lives
of children. In addition to the Award, each will receive $100,000 to
be donated to the cause of their choice. These honorees are:
Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, who initiates, directs and
sponsors projects and activities throughout Jordan and worldwide
which respond to the needs of mothers and children’s health care,
as well as in the areas of education, women’s development,
environmental protection, culture, public architecture and
planning.
Judah Folkman, M.D., Andrus Professor of Pediatric Surgery at
Harvard Medical School and Surgeon-in-Chief, Emeritus, of Children’s
Hospital in Boston, who is currently the professor of cell biology
at the Harvard Medical School. Folkman’s research in angiogenesis
has been instrumental in the treatment of cancer and other
diseases.
Members of the McDonald’s family – restaurant owners, suppliers
and employees – will also be honored for their efforts on behalf
of children. One of the most distinguished awards given is the Gerry
Newman McTLC award.
The 2002 recipient of this award along with $25,000, is Dawn
Degenhardt, a McDonald’s Owner in Houlton, Maine, who has
dedicated 25 years to enriching the lives of abandoned children
across the world. Working with Maine Adoption Placement Service
(MAPS), she has helped to raise funds to build and renovate
orphanages in Peru, Kazakhstan and India. She serves as caretaker at
understaffed adoption centers and has adopted nine children into her
own family.
Past RMHC Awards of Excellence recipients have included: tennis star
Andrea Jaeger (2001), renowned performer and humanitarian Harry
Belafonte (2000), former First Lady Betty Ford (1998), Retired U.S.
Army General Colin Powell (1997), former U.S. Surgeon General Dr.
Antonia Novello (1995), and former First Lady Barbara Bush (1994),
among others.
Gala Marks Launch of Worldwide Fundraising Effort for Children
The 2002 Awards of Excellence celebration will kick off “McDonald’s
World Children’s Day,” an unprecedented worldwide fundraising
effort benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities and other children’s
causes around the globe. ABC-TV will telecast the Awards of
Excellence all-star concert on Thursday, November 14th at 7 p.m. CST/8
p.m. EST as part of this effort.
On November 20th, McDonald’s restaurants in 121 countries will
raise funds to help children in their communities. U.S. customers
can participate by purchasing select menu items from which a portion
of each sale will be donated to RMHC.
“McDonald’s goal on November 20th goes far beyond the dollars
raised for children,“ said Ken Barun, President and CEO of Ronald
McDonald House Charities. “It also brings the world’s attention
to the ever-increasing needs of children and the role we must all
play in affecting positive change.”
Ronald McDonald House Charities, a non-profit, 501(c)3, creates,
finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and
well being of children through its network of 171 local Chapters
currently serving in 44 countries. Named one of America's Top 100
Charities by Worth magazine, the Charity makes grants to not
for-profit organizations and provides support to Ronald McDonald
Houses and Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles worldwide. To date, Ronald
McDonald House Charities' national body and global network of local
Chapters have awarded more than $340 million to children's programs.
Awards of
Excellence Tickets Now Available
Individual ticket prices for the gala concert start at $550,
with net proceeds going directly to Ronald McDonald House
Charities. For tickets or more information, call 630-623-7048 or
log on to www.rmhc.org. |
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