My 12 year old research paper on Lou Pearlman (I have issues)
I think by now there is no need for me to mention how much of a music nerd I truly am. I have further proof to those who doubted me.
This all started seemingly innocent. I was commentating to one of my new co-CMS about how I spend Christmas watching The Chipmunks movie. I said, “It’s the perfect movie for any music nerd. Why didn’t anyone tell me!?” My co-worker said that Justin Timberlake played the voice of Alvin. I thought it was BoBo from “Yogi the Bear.” (I was right.) I read this on Wikipedia, and although I don’t trust Wikipedia a lot, I always go down and look at the sources to see its legitimacy. And just like I end up doing quite often, I wound up clicking and clicking until I found myself at Lou Pearlman’s Wiki page.
Lou Pearlman, now that was a name I hadn’t thought about in years. Of course, being the fact that I was a music nerd since day one, I knew exactly who Lou Pearlman was. I knew he went to jail a few years ago. I was reading about what he was doing in jail. Come to find out, he didn’t go to jail in regards to anything he did in the music industry, but rather for a Ponzi scheme with Transcontinental Airlines. Of course, I was to look up what a Ponzi scheme was. Then I saw that one of the sources was a book entitled, “The Hit Charade: Lou Pearlman, Boy Bands, and the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in U.S. History.” I looked it up on Amazon, found it on sale for a total of $4, including shipping, and bought it.
I started reading the book and already it’s SOOOO interesting. As I was reading it hit me that it’s been a long since I ever thought of him. It hit me, Hmmmm, what did I know about Lou Pearlman. Again, it had been years since I thought of him.
I remembered I spent the entire summer on my junior year in High School researching him. Don’t get freaked out. This music nerd was taking college classes over the summer and wrote my final paper on him. Not only am I an avid lover of writing research papers, but combine that with my music nerdism, and bam, you got this super well researched paper.
Now, I wrote this when I was 16. This was 12 years ago, 6 years before this book was written, 3 years before I ever met him (yeah, at the movie shoot for Aaron Carter’s movie. I will NEVER forget that). I had the queen of pop music crown on my head and wore it proudly. With that said, please excuse all my teeny bopped tendencies. Also, this was written before spell check existed (can you believe there was such a time?), hence a lot of mistakes.
Without further ado here is my essay on Lou Pearlman. (I wish I had kept the bibliography on this. No clue where that is.)
Cheater or Cheated
Backstreet Boys, *N SYNC, LFO, O-Town, Take 5; what do all these musical groups have in common? No, I don’t mean they are often refereed as “boy bands;” if that was the case I would have added BBMak and 98º as well. The previous five bands had one particular common link. Behind their music, clothes, CDs, merchandise, and even their fans, one thread linked all of them. This thread has been none other than Lou Pearlman. Pearlman helped the groups by giving them a “head start” in the industry. He would buy them clothes, house them, arrange gigs and transport them, give them classes on how to be a “pop star,” etc. (Back Street Stories: Unauthorized) One would think that the groups would be thankful for all his hard work, but this does not seem to be the case. Lately, Pearlman has been involved in law suits by those same groups climbing that he has cheated them. Also, another number of his groups have been leaving his management. Has Lou Pearlman been unfair, or has he simply created greedy celebrities?
Before this question is explored, one must know the facts behind Lou Pearlman. You could say that Pearlman has music in his blood. In addition to playing guitar in a hometown band, Pearlman grew up musically inspired by his first cousin Art Garfunkel. When he saw that success in the music industry was initially exclusive, he turned his attention into his second passion, aviation. In his official on-line biography the events that lead him back into the music industry are stated:
Armed with a strong vision, Pearlman convinced Wall Street investors to help him start up an air chartering business. His vision came to fruition as Trans Continental Airlines that would eventually lead Pearlman to his unbelievable success in the music industry. having chartered jets for such music industry giants as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Phil Collins, Pearlman received a charter request from the musical group New Kids On the Block. Upon learning these five young guys had amassed more than $100 million dollars in record, tour, and merchandize sales, Pearlman decided it was time to re-enter the music industry from a different angle. With that decision Trans Continental Records was born. (“Lois J. Pearlman Biography”)
However, Pearlman did not make that decision in a blink of an eye. He actually took time and researched it. The following is from a “60 minute” transcript of an interview with Pearlman
"I was invited to a concert. And I saw New Kids performing," Pearlman explained. "And it wasn't hard for me to see the stage, because all the people they were like this big, so I sort of looked right over their heads. And I was able to see the stage; I saw everybody, and I was like amazed." What amazed Pearlman was that the fans were buying every product the New Kids offered. Pearlman wanted a piece of that gold mine, so he set out to create his own teen idols.
Pearlman did just that. In late 1992 Pearlman held auditions for this group, whom would later be called the Backstreet Boys. Contrary to popular belief, the Backstreet Boys as the public knows them today were not the Backstreet Boys that Pearlman had auditioned. Three out of the five original members dropped, each time replacing him by a fellow friend or relative. On April 20, 1993 the final member joined and thus we get Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, A.J. McLean, and Howie Dorough as the Backstreet Boys. (“Backstreet Boys: BSB Fan Riot!” 8)
Once the Backstreet Boys were assembled he immediately put them to work. He trained their vocals and gave them slick dance moves. He provided all their housing, transportation, meals, and clothing. In 1995 they released their first U.S. single “We’ve Got It Going On,” which was a complete failure, reaching only to number 69 in the pop charts. Noticing that there was better market for “boy bands” over sees, Pearlman promptly flew them over, where they were a huge success. (Back Street Stories: Unauthorized)
“You can’t make money on an airline with just one airplane,” stated Pearlman.(Boucher) This is why while the Backstreet Boys were busy doing all sorts of gigs in Europe and Asia, Pearlman was back in the United States working on his knew teen sensation. In 1994 Pearlman was introduced to *N SYNC members JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, and Chris Kirpatrik. Pearlman called in Johnny Wright (Backstreet Boys manager at the time) in Europe, where he was on tour with the Backstreet Boys, and summoned him back to the States to hear the new act and become its manager. After about a year of “training”, *N SYNC was ready to fly over sees and cause their own sensation. (Boucher)
In 1997 the Backstreet Boys and *N SYNC returned to the United States after a phenomenon had occurred. The United States “grunge” was now out and new teen pop idols, such as the Spice Girls and Hanson, were becoming popular. Pearlman knew this was the big US break he was looking for, so he promptly brought both the Backstreet Boys and *N SYNC back home. In the U.S. they had a great deal of success, producing platinum albums, number one hits, and sell out tour. (Rifkin 39-46)
However, all of this came to a stop in 1998 when the Backstreet Boys found a new management, The Firm. The management issue is a backdrop for a money dispute that in 1998 involved a flurry of lawsuits and a small army of attorneys. The lawsuits included one filled by the Backstreet Boys against Pearlman and his company over the division of $200 million in revenues generated by the act to that point. Jordan Keller gave the following statement in a “20/20 Downtown” segment on Pearlman: “These five guys have to divide 25 cents as oppose of divining 75 cents, so that's where you start to see that it isn't fair.” They settled out of court on October of the same year, but still Pearlman receives a percentage of their revenues. (“Boy Trouble”)
The law suits did not stop there. In 1999 *N SYNC tried to leave Pearlman, but this time he sued them for $150 million on breachment of contract. (“Pearlman Weighs In On *N SYNC Lawsuit”) They too settled out of court, and *N SYNC was able to leave Pearlman and move to Jive! records.
The question remains, who was right and who was wrong? Who was the cheater and who was cheated? Let us take a look at each side.
When Pearlman started Trans Continental records, he claims this was this role: "I'm there because I want to make everybody happy. I like to see the artists happy. I like to see the fans happy. You know, of course, there's a tinkle to the cash register, and everybody's getting some financial happiness," (The Idol Maker)
Actually it's more like a flood to the cash register. Pearlman has created these sensations and he banks on the fact that these young fans, once infatuated, will spend millions of dollars on everything from compact discs and concert tickets, to T- shirts and posters. And if their allowance money won't cover it, Pearlman calculates rightly that their parents will chip in. “When girls are scream and ask for CDs and posters, are their daddies going to say no? I don’t think so,” Pearlman says with a chuckle. “It works nice for us.” (Boucher)
A $30 T shirt here, a $15 disc there, these fans’ buying power is estimated at more than $100 billion per year. (The Idol Maker) However, how much of this money did these acts see. According to Helen Freeman, *N SYNC’s attorney, not very much:
When a dollar came in, if it was a record dollar he took 25% off the top, if it was merchandise dollar he took 30% of the top and if it was the touring company he took 30% off the top. And then he said, ‘Ok now well go to the formula here that's in the agreement and you get 50 cents of what's left and I get 50 cents of what's left.’” (“Boy Trouble”)
According to Beki Onslow, Pearlman’s publicist, Pearlman deserves his cut. “He’s just a genius. These kids… Lou puts them in these groups and makes them feel like stars. He does take a percentage {of the profits}, but he does the job.” (Passy)
Should he take such large amount? According to 20/20 correspondent Arnold Diaz, someone like Pearlman has a right to take as much as 35%. However, we have seen that Pearlman has taken quite a bigger share than that, sometimes even by befriending the acts. Diaz continuous to explain, “Pearlman insisted that he was a member of each band. Normally band profits would be split 5 ways in these cases the money was divided into 6 equal shares, number 6 being Lou Pearlman.” Keller further clarifies: “And he'd be like, ‘Oh I'm the sixth Backstreet Boy.’ And the Boys thought it was a buddy thing, until they actually saw the work and realized, ‘Oh, ok, we have to split 6 ways here.” (“Boy Trouble”)
However, ask Pearlman about the fairness of his dealings with the Backstreet Boys and he will respond with something similar to the following:
He says he plowed $3 million into the Backstreet Boys before they made any money, and he recalls days when he bought the boys their meals and haircuts, paid their vocal coaches, wrote their first song and (according to Trans Continental’s officials) also made mortgage payments for one of the singer’s families when times were tough. (Boucher)
Aside from the money issues, both the Backstreet Boys’ and *N SYNCs’ parents have complaints on Pearlman’s treatment. Onslow concedes that for most artists at the bottom rung, there are few choices but to sign on the dotted line. “When you first start off in the music industry, you will do anything… ‘cause it’s a record contract.” (Passy) However, Nick Carter’s mother, Jane carter, claims the original contract Pearlman signed with the Backstreet Boys was “not as good as it should have been.” She suggests that Pearlman was not completely forthcoming about the amount of money generated by the assorted ventures cashing in on the act’s worldwide success. “He should be fair to these boys and their families. Making the wealth is one thing, sharing wealth is another…Don’t just be a greedy person because you had this idea.” (Boucher)
*N SYNC feels Pearlman treated them in a similar way. A source says that the members feel Pearlman took advantage of their youth. This source claims the following:
The important thing to understand is that we’re talking about 1995, when this group was first put together. These kids, two of whom were minors, were young and unsophisticated. They were talented, and basically, someone put their arm around them and told them he was going to take them to the stars. But a lot of what he said was untrue… They were induced to enter into a whole complex of agreements they didn’t understand.” (Newman)
There are evident inconsistencies between what the group members state, and what Pearlman state. In response to the above statement Pealman says “I don’t really know what {their statement} is referring to on our end.” Obviosly someone is not being completely honest. JC Chasez was quoted stating Pearlman was “...an unscrupulous, greedy and sophisticated businessman who posed as a unselfish, loving father figure and took advantage of our trust.” To that Pearlman replies “JC lived in my house, JC and I were very close through the whole development. I remember when all the parents were thanking me for taking them under my wing and spending all the time and I hope that they still feel that way.” (“Boy Trouble”)
Throughout this article it may have seem as though the Backstreet Boys and *N SYNC were the only acts that Pearlman had problems with. This is not true. Take 5 and LFO split from Pearlman earlier this year (not much information available on the specifics). Even O-Town, the group that Pearlman “assembled” in his hit ABC series “Making the band” parted from Pearlman. O-Town member Erik Estrada explains that Pearlman was technically never O-Town's manager to begin with. "Our relationship with Lou is a lot different than the other bands," he said. "They had a management agreement with Lou. Lou's not our manager. He's solely tied into us through the TV show. We've just been lucky enough and blessed enough that we were able to deal with him on that visionary level and really didn't have to get involved with him on a business aspect of it because there's obvious problems between him and the other groups, and those are things, of course, that concerned us." (Gelman)
Could these simply be that these teen idols let the stardom get to their heads, or was Pearlman trully unfair? We cannot conclude for certain at this time. Maybe we will never find out who the cheater was and who was cheated.