Battle of the Boy Bands Enters Complicated Round

‘N Sync has always been a pesky little brother for the Backstreet Boys, constantly getting underfoot in the early days and then, worse, maturing into a rival that could actually compete for the affections (and allowances) of the nation’s female youth.

The battle between the heartthrob squads has never been confined to the charts either. Both fivesomes were, to a varying extent, assembled and trained under the watchful eye of Florida pop music entrepreneur Louis J. Pearlman.

They also shared the same manager, until the Backstreet Boys felt they weren’t getting enough attention (or money) in that arrangement and bolted to a new representative. Now the Backstreet Boys are angry with their label, Zomba Recording Corp.’s Jive.

The reason: Jive recently signed--you guessed it--those guys in ‘N Sync to a reported $12-million contract.

It might sound like a dispute that should be solved with a showdown at recess, but, as might be expected, a lot more is going on behind the scenes than is apparent at first blush.

Insiders say ‘N Sync is merely flirting with Jive to get a better deal with its own label, RCA Records, and also scrap its existing contract with Pearlman. Zomba’s goal, meanwhile, may be a bid for independence from its U.S. distributor and part-owner, Bertelsmann AG’s BMG Entertainment, which owns RCA and is furious with Jive’s poaching.

“[Zomba] wants a wedge, and ‘N Sync is it,” says one source close to the roiling dispute.

BMG and RCA filed a $150-million federal lawsuit in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday to block ‘N Sync’s flight, and the crux of the case will be the singing group’s contention that its RCA contract is invalid because of loopholes and clerical errors. The Backstreet Boys, meanwhile, feel slighted by Jive and want a better deal of their own or free agency after providing the company with “Millennium,” which, with 6.4 million copies sold, is by far the best-selling release of the year.

MOGUL MANIA: Standing in the center of all this is the hulking figure of Pearlman, the Orlando mogul behind Trans Continental Records who, by contract, is technically the sixth Backstreet Boy and also owner of the ‘N Sync name. He’s used to turmoil with his “boys”--the Backstreet crew sued him a few years ago, and ‘N Sync has rebuked his claims of creating it--but he declares he remains their devoted “big papa.”

But members of the ‘N Sync camp say Pearlman’s steadfast refusal to renegotiate his large slice of ‘N Sync’s pie (by some reports, he gets two-thirds of their revenues) is at the root of the entire dispute.

Pearlman answers that he is merely reaping the profits for creating these music juggernauts, and he has a new project that will show what he’s capable of: He’s inked a deal with MTV Productions and ABC-TV for a prime-time documentary series (the producers are the creators of MTV’s “Real World”) that will chronicle the creation of a new boy band.

The first episode will highlight a national search that will bring 25 young men to Orlando to vie for eight spots. Those eight will move into a home together and, in front of the cameras, learn the dance moves, media skills and cute-guy antics at Pearlman’s pop-music finishing school. In the third or fourth episode, high drama should ensue when three cast members are jettisoned to reach the final five members.

“It is kind of self-rewarding,” he says. “It’s like one of those magician shows where they reveal how they do all the tricks, except this one shows the opposite, it shows that there are no tricks. . . . There’s a lot of risk, a lot of time behind these things.”

RASTAMAN VIBRATION: The spiritual and social resonance of Bob Marley’s music and life has made him an icon around the globe, but the reggae star always regretted his inability to strongly connect with the African American communities in U.S. urban areas, according to his son, Stephen Marley.

That’s why the Marley family is behind “Bob Marley: A Rebel’s Dream,” an album that uses cutting-edge studio technology to weave the late singer’s voice and songs into duets with hip-hop stars Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes, the Roots and others. Stephen Marley, executive producer of the project and a growing star on the reggae scene in his own right, said his father’s music can be especially meaningful now, with rap imagery dominated by violence and cynicism.

“The rappers say their music is about what is happening on the streets, but music must also say the way things should be, the way they could be. It must help our spirits move us to better lives.” The album hits stores Oct. 26, and the Hill duet “Turn Your Lights Down Low” also appears on the upcoming soundtrack to “The Best Man.”