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From the most recent issue of Rolling Stone (50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock & Roll)
Teen Pop Takes Over: Riding the crest, 'Nsync sell 2 million CD's in a week
March 21st, 2000
In March 2000, Barry Weiss was skiing in Colorado when the phone calls started coming in. Wiess, the president of Jive Records, was dumbstruck when an employee gave him the early sales figures for 'Nsync's second album No Strings Attached. "It was unbelievable," he recalls. "Usually after the first day, numbers drop off drastically. It didn't happen this time." The album eventually sold more than 2.4 million copies in its first week, more than doubling the previous record held by another Jive act, Backstreet Boys who moved 1.1 million copies of their 1999 effort, Millenium in its debut week.
Weiss returned to New York and did what any successful executive would do: He partied. "We went to the Palm and had lobster," he says. "It was the ultimate."
The sales explosion for No Strings Attached was the high point in the tidal wave of teen-pop acts that ruled the charts, airwaves and cash registers in the late Nineties. Coming off the gloom of the grunge era - punctuated by the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994 - the country's mood began to brighten and the economy started to hum. "People were feeling good," says 'Nsync member JC Chasez. "And people love pop albums. They love albums by Michael Jackson and George Michael. And when we started, there wasn't anything like that."
Selling all those records required more than a pretty face. "We showed everybody that we were musical," said 'Nsync's Justin Timberlake, "that we're not just poster boys."
"The songs were ubermelodic, with uberhooks - but production that was just edgy enough to make it hip," add Weiss. "We sold our records to the people who live between New York and L.A. That's where the pop audience was."
The Backstreet Boys had gotten the first jump, kicking down the door in 1997 with their debut album, Backstreet Boys. 'Nsync, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera followed close behind, all going multiplatinum several times over with each successive record. Even second-tier acts such as 98 Degrees and O-Town sold millions. "It was normal to sell that much," says Chasez. "Now, everything has been reset. Going just platinum is a big thing again."
Crucial to the success of these acts was the explosion of the Internet - which allowed artists to build a community of fans they could reach direclty - and MTV's Total Request Live. The call-in show was hosted by Carson Daly, who became a de facto baby sitter for millions of preteens. "It was such a powerful thing to see young kids get so into music and reacting to it," Daly says. "The screams still ring in my ears. One week it'd be Britney, Christina, Backstreet, in the studio, one right after another. I felt like a used-car salesman. And I was moving a lot of cars."
The boys of 'Nsync knew all too well that they were in a tough business. "I'm glad we haven't become jaded, because we've been screwed over a lot of time as far as business goes," Timberlake said. "But, really, I can't complain."
Well that's nostalgic. It's pretty damn cool that, no matter what happens from here, 'Nsync has their place in history. Say what you want about pop music - 2.4 million albums in one week is a hell of a statement.
Teen Pop Takes Over: Riding the crest, 'Nsync sell 2 million CD's in a week
March 21st, 2000
In March 2000, Barry Weiss was skiing in Colorado when the phone calls started coming in. Wiess, the president of Jive Records, was dumbstruck when an employee gave him the early sales figures for 'Nsync's second album No Strings Attached. "It was unbelievable," he recalls. "Usually after the first day, numbers drop off drastically. It didn't happen this time." The album eventually sold more than 2.4 million copies in its first week, more than doubling the previous record held by another Jive act, Backstreet Boys who moved 1.1 million copies of their 1999 effort, Millenium in its debut week.
Weiss returned to New York and did what any successful executive would do: He partied. "We went to the Palm and had lobster," he says. "It was the ultimate."
The sales explosion for No Strings Attached was the high point in the tidal wave of teen-pop acts that ruled the charts, airwaves and cash registers in the late Nineties. Coming off the gloom of the grunge era - punctuated by the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994 - the country's mood began to brighten and the economy started to hum. "People were feeling good," says 'Nsync member JC Chasez. "And people love pop albums. They love albums by Michael Jackson and George Michael. And when we started, there wasn't anything like that."
Selling all those records required more than a pretty face. "We showed everybody that we were musical," said 'Nsync's Justin Timberlake, "that we're not just poster boys."
"The songs were ubermelodic, with uberhooks - but production that was just edgy enough to make it hip," add Weiss. "We sold our records to the people who live between New York and L.A. That's where the pop audience was."
The Backstreet Boys had gotten the first jump, kicking down the door in 1997 with their debut album, Backstreet Boys. 'Nsync, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera followed close behind, all going multiplatinum several times over with each successive record. Even second-tier acts such as 98 Degrees and O-Town sold millions. "It was normal to sell that much," says Chasez. "Now, everything has been reset. Going just platinum is a big thing again."
Crucial to the success of these acts was the explosion of the Internet - which allowed artists to build a community of fans they could reach direclty - and MTV's Total Request Live. The call-in show was hosted by Carson Daly, who became a de facto baby sitter for millions of preteens. "It was such a powerful thing to see young kids get so into music and reacting to it," Daly says. "The screams still ring in my ears. One week it'd be Britney, Christina, Backstreet, in the studio, one right after another. I felt like a used-car salesman. And I was moving a lot of cars."
The boys of 'Nsync knew all too well that they were in a tough business. "I'm glad we haven't become jaded, because we've been screwed over a lot of time as far as business goes," Timberlake said. "But, really, I can't complain."
Well that's nostalgic. It's pretty damn cool that, no matter what happens from here, 'Nsync has their place in history. Say what you want about pop music - 2.4 million albums in one week is a hell of a statement.
