Overview
- Bass told The Zach Sang Show on October 8 that members of *NSYNC were given a $35 per diem and that the group's first paycheck was about $10,000 after years of No. 1 albums and sellout tours.
- The payments Bass describes stand in stark contrast to the band's commercial record, which includes the 2000 album No Strings Attached selling 2.4 million copies in its first week and tours that grossed tens of millions of dollars.
- Bass said the label and their manager Lou Pearlman made the bulk of the money, a claim placed in context by Pearlman's 2008 conviction for fraud and his 2016 death in prison.
- He said the band still receives small residuals, that members were not set up financially after the group's 2002 hiatus, and that they had to rebuild careers on their own after leaving the band.
- The comments are personal recollections rather than new legal filings, but they could renew public scrutiny of how managers and record deals assign earnings and protections for young artists.