Avoiding The Scam

What did N*Sync, The Backstreet Boys, Take 5, and O-Town have in common? Other than being very popular boy bands in the 90s, they only had one thing: Lou Pearlman.

Does that name sound familiar? You probably remember him from a few years back when there were news headlines of Pearlman’s inappropriate sexual conduct towards band members. It turns out that he was also sued by almost every single band he ever represented for charges relating to fraud or misrepresentation. Pearlman never won against the bands in court. Suspicions begun to arise when Backstreet Boy member Brian Littrell hired a lawyer to investigate where all their earnings were going. Apparently Pearlman had the budget set up to receive funds as if he was a sixth Backstreet Boy, as well as making a ton of money from the commission he was charging them.

He didn’t stop with the Boy Bands! In 2008, Lou Pearlman was sentenced to prison for 25 years for allegedly swindling $300 million from investors and banks since the 80’s. Here is an article mentioning his sentence. This just goes to show that even managers that have brought their clients lots of success can still be frauds. Obviously Pearlman did want his bands to succeed, but for the wrong reasons. This case has mad me realize how important it is to have a good lawyer initially look at the contract regarding compensation and to have an accountant that you trust be able to look at the books! I think Pearlman took advantage of managing young kids, thinking that they might be too naïve to know what he was up to. It is so unfortunate that there are these types of con artists out there and just reemphasizes the point that any artist needs to be very careful when choosing a manager, even if the manager has a proven track record!