The Boys Are Back

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Nov 19, 2099 Source: The New York Post Submitted By: Y By ALLYSON LIEBERMAN The Backstreet Boys got it their way - signing a walloping $60 million, contract with their label, Jive Records, after months of threatening to leave. But the Boys also scored another coup, wiggling an almost-unheard of 20 percent royalty rate from Clive Calder's Jive. "The $60 million is significant - but the real story is the royalty. Nobody gets 20 percent - not even Madonna," said one industry insider. Sources familiar with the deal say the whopping five-album, multi-million dollar contract includes a "hefty amount" of money up front for the teen pop sensation's next album, which is due out in September. In addition, sources say Jive, which is home to teen pop queen Brittney Spears and possibly 'N Sync - to be determined after a pending lawsuit between the band and their creator is settled - had no other other choice but to give the Boys what they wanted. More money. The Orlando-based, all-boy band's self-titled first album, released in Europe and Canada in 1996, turned Backstreet into overnight sensations. Their follow up release, "Millenium," which hit the stores in the Spring of 1999, once again whipped teenage fans into a boy band frenzy, toppling the charts and, selling nearly 7 million copies. In total, the quintet has sold over 40 million albums worldwide over the past four years. "The Backstreet Boys knew what they were doing. They were never going to leave. They were just squeezing Jive for more cash," said one source. The Firm, Backstreet's management, and Jive Records declined to comment. While Jive is forking over the $60 million, putting the teen rockers in the same territory with other music bigwigs such as Michael Jackson, Prince and the Rolling Stones, they are not the only ones who win big with the signing of the deal. Louis Pearlman, who created, discovered and financed the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync - but lost the Boys to a sweeter deal at Jive - stands to rake in big bucks. Pearlman's lawyer told The Post that he still has a "participation" in the band, but would not disclose the percentage or the amount. "I don't think he's unhappy," said Michael Friedman, an attorney for Pearlman and his Trans Continental Records. Industry powerhouse BMG Music has a distribution deal with Jive to put out all of Backstreet's albums. But their contract with Jive is up next year, and it remains to be seen whether Calder will renew it, or leave Strauss Zelnick's BMG without the bestselling act of 1999. Comment on this item. Next Item: I must apologize Prev Item: Talent is Always Ridiculed