Backstreet Boys sue Zomba
Group seeks $75 mil, termination of deal
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Teen pop quintet the Backstreet Boys are suing their label, the Zomba Music Group, for breach of contract, alleging the company dragged its feet on releasing the group's latest record, costing the Boys a $5 million contractual advance and hampering their careers.
Suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, came just one day before BMG finalized its acquisition of Zomba for $2.74 billion. The Backstreeters are seeking $75 million in damages, termination of their recording deal and an injunction against further interference from the label.
The group alleges that Zomba, knowing the $5 million advance was contingent upon delivery of a fourth album by April 30 of this year, delayed approval of new songs for the record and chose instead to focus on a solo project by group member Nick Carter.
The complaint notes the solo recording made Carter unavailable for the completion of the Backstreet album -- which put the group in violation of another contract term that required the participation of all five members on a group record.
The delay on the record also prevented the group from going out on tour and selling merchandise to support the recording -- two significant sources of revenue for the band that are not shared with the record label, the suit claims.
"Such touring activities are often an artist's best, if not only, way to make a sustainable living in the music industry," according to the complaint. "In the case of the Backstreet Boys, a single tour can be expected to generate tens of millions of dollars in net revenues" for the group.
The Boys' last album for Zomba, 2000's "Black and Blue," sold 1.6 million copies in its first week of release; it eventually was certified eight times platinum. Released in October, Nick Carter's solo record has sold 106,000 units.
A Zomba rep declined to comment on the suit, citing company policy.
