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So you want to be a rock 'n' roll mogulLou Pearlman knows the formula for molding bands
By Todd Leopold
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Lou Pearlman has made millions of dollars creating and managing some of the top names in the music business: 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys and O-Town, among others. For some, this makes Pearlman a genius, a shrewd impresario with a golden gut. For others, he is the Antichrist. Pearlman has come under fire for bringing mass-produced bubble gum back to the charts, for taking financial advantage of his bands, for pretty much any charge you can fire at a music mogul. In an interview, he shrugs off the criticism. Many of the complaints of mistreatment come from attorneys trying to get a piece of the pie, he says. "It's not the guys; it's the lawyers," he says, adding that he still has good relationships with many of his musicians -- and as for the music, the sales speak for themselves. "The bottom line is -- look at the numbers," says Pearlman, 48. The numbers are big: The groups under Pearlman's Trans Continental banner have sold millions of records (175 million, by his estimate), had several No. 1 singles and albums, and have become the darlings of teenagers everywhere. Pearlman loves music (he's Art Garfunkel's cousin and once had his own band) and loves guiding his charges, but he's an entrepreneur at heart. As he writes in his new book, "Bands, Brands and Billions: My Top Ten Rules for Making Any Business Go Platinum" (McGraw-Hill), he invests in the music business through talent and management and expects a return on his money. "The odds of me breaking a group," he says, "are sometimes like winning a lottery." Has he won a few lotteries? Do girls scream with joy at boy bands? "I've been lucky I've been successful," he says. But, he cautions, he spends a lot, too. And "at the end of the day, if it didn't work, they wouldn't pay me back." The making of an impresario
Pearlman, a round, genial man whose only sign of ostentation is a gem-encrusted watch, answers questions matter-of-factly. For him, business is a matter of marketing the product and delivering the goods, and with his boy bands -- as with his original business, transportation -- he does both with an eye for detail. The guy didn't get to be a millionaire by age 21 for nothing. In putting together the Backstreet Boys, Pearlman studied demographic trends and the psyches of his primary market, teenage girls. He noted the differences between psychosocial groups and determined to build a group to appeal across all lines. Calculating? Absolutely. But that's nothing new in the pop music business. Pop impresarios -- or pop marketing, for that matter -- aren't a recent phenomenon, though critics often frown upon them. Some worked with legends. Brian Epstein put the Beatles in matching suits, and Andrew Loog Oldham urged the Stones to be grubbier. Others traveled a different route. Don Kirshner went from the Monkees -- a hand-picked group that wanted self-control -- to the Archies, a hand-drawn group of cartoon characters. Both, however, were huge successes. And, of course, there was the brilliant Motown assembly line, which produced "the Sound of Young America" -- and molded its singers with charm school, dance lessons and a triumphantly distinctive sound. Pearlman acknowledges a debt to Motown in his book. In the late '80s, after seeing the craze whipped up by New Kids on the Block, he was toying with getting back into the entertainment business after almost 20 years forming and running a firm that chartered airplanes and airships. He met with Smokey Robinson, who told him how Motown did things. He also followed the New Kids' career like a hawk. So with the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, or new artists Natural and Smilez & Southstar, Pearlman didn't reinvent the wheel. "We're not doing anything new or different," he says. "What we did do is create and use the tools available to us." The New Kids had a 900 number, he points out. "We have the Internet; we have 'TRL' [MTV's 'Total Request Live']." And, he says, parents can trust Trans Continental's groups. There's no profanity, and lyrics and dance moves are about as racy as a 1962 high school prom. "We're known for good, clean, wholesome fun," he says. 'I go with the flow'
Of course, Trans Continental's artists are human, too, and so is Pearlman. He's been criticized for micromanaging his artists, and the Backstreet Boys sued him for a bigger share of their royalties, a suit that was settled out of court. But in a business that can be brutal, Pearlman retains a fatherly interest in his groups. (He says he spoke to Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough over the holidays, and recently saw 'N Syncer Joey Fatone in "Rent." The solo success of several 'N Sync members has put the group in mothballs.) He says he tries to get along with everybody -- lawyers and record sharks included. "I go with the flow," he says. "I don't let it get to me personally." He's also working on expanding his stable. Along with Trans Continental Records, there's now Trans Continental Talent and an entertainment complex in his Orlando, Florida, home base. "Making the Band," the show that created O-Town, is in its third season. And he's putting a big push behind Natural, a group that plays its own instruments, has had great success in Asia and is scheduled to play a concert May 24 in China's Forbidden City. Pearlman's achieved great success in two businesses. So, he says, it's not about wealth anymore. "If you don't love [the music business], you shouldn't do it," he says. "After a point, it's not about the money. It's the challenge."
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