A Fan’s Perspective On The Backstreet Boys Status
Contributed by BadAss4Backstreet:
Greetings again!! I have again received permission to submit a few thoughts from my friend in California regarding the latest Backstreet move to put their album on hold! She does a wonderful job putting thoughts into words, and I agree with her here! I feel that this latest move on the part of Backstreet is all Jive Record’s fault. Negotiations have turned sour, and Backstreet, I feel, are doing the smart thing. All signs point to this being the case, and I have a gut feeling. Afterall, we had reports of all 5 of them logging studio hours, working, playing, getting back on track, and suddenly it’s all on hold!
Read on for great thoughts from a fellow fan!!
Dear Jen:
Until the Boys legally extricate themselves from the provisions of their contract with their label, in this case Jive via Zomba, the label has the ultimate say on the creative product (their music) the Boys can produce. This includes and is not restricted to producers, the sound, the selection, the packaging, the release and promotion of any of the required cd’s the Boys still have outstanding with Jive. The lawsuit against Zomba is a tricky, costly and hand wringing move on the part of Backstreet, but it shows if anything how much these guys want to creatively control their sound through the creative process of crafting it. I for one support them totally in their endeavor to hold on to it and hope the fans do too! Something the fans need to remember which should give them hope. When a group is signed on by a label, the label strives to “capture” the sound or music type their signees do. The label hedges any development and release of music based on the markets they try to create and hold on too. What Jive doesn’t seem to want to understand is that like any child, the Boys have matured both in what they create, how they want to create it and what they are willing to do to market it. They want and need full creative license to be what we their fans expect from them, but mostly from what they themselves know themselves capable of achieving. They have had time off to think about what’s important to them as individuals and as a group with a “sound” they know they can deliver. I think what’s hard right now to understand is that they have finally experienced life and maybe living instead of answering to market taskmasters have given them the strength and the conviction to go for the brass ring: a new label under with better provisions. Nothing wrong with that, but the legal hassels will be messy. The fallout? They will withhold what they have until the terms are better or maybe walk away from it to live more. Either way, they are still the best, very talented young men with wonderful gifts of voice and song. I’m in there for them for the long haul however it turns out. I guess being 48 years old has taught me that everything turns out for the best if you believe that things happen for a reason. Like two sides of the same coin, I love them for the music and the guys that they are on one side and support them fully through all the trials and tribulations this current fracas is causing. Just hope others do too!
